By: Lisa Brisch,
Certified Personal Chef
Dinner Thyme
Personal Chef Service

Wouldn’t it be great to have someone plan, shop, and cook all your dinners? Yeah, and then I woke up from that dream. In reality, a personal chef can save you time and money, and you don’t have to be rich.

What is a personal chef service (PCS) anyway?

A PCS is a meal service customized to you and your family’s tastes, eating habits, diets, and schedules. It is usually owned by the chef, and the chef is the one planning, shopping, and cooking for you. The chef may send you a customized menu with an option to change items or give you a list of items that fit your profile, and you choose what you want. The chef shops for all the groceries and comes to your house and cooks approximately 2 weeks of dinners (if you ate it every week night, which you don’t have to do). Some of the meals go in the refrigerator and the remaining go in the freezer, or they can all be frozen.

So how do you know if a PCS is a good fit for you? Do any of these statements pertain to you?
•  I hate to cook.
•  I’m stressed about what’s for dinner.
•  I have no time to cook, let alone plan dinner.
•  With all good intentions, I plan and shop for the week, but much of the food ends in the trash because I am too exhausted to cook.
•  I only have 30 minutes when the whole family is together for dinner, especially when school is in session.
•  I consume a lot of take-out and fast food.
•  I want to eat healthier but don’t know how or don’t have the time.

You can see how time is a prevalent theme here. Is it worth it? So how do you figure out if you should have a personal chef? Ask yourself, “what is my time worth to me?” It can be your hourly work rate or whatever value you want. There are online calculators (search “value of your time”) that help you determine that value. Then determine how much time you spend on getting dinner on the table – including the planning, shopping, and cooking. That time spent multiplied by your time value lets you know how much you “spend” on getting dinner together.
Also consider how much you spend in dining out, take-out, and fast food. And add any groceries you purchased that get tossed because you never got around to cooking them.
Besides the money aspect, consider the psychological aspect. Do you hate to cook? Will it save your marriage? Review the money analysis along with the psychological to help you make
a decision.

If you have decided it’s time to outsource the cooking, what kind of background should your chef have? She or he should have at least 10 years experience cooking. A culinary degree, while not a necessity, is valuable. She can cook varied cuisines and be certified in safe food handling. Client references should be available. Belonging to national culinary organizations shows that the chef is committed to growing in their field and expanding their education.

Below are some questions you should ask and the answers you should receive:

Can you accommodate the different tastes of our family?

Yes, the chef should interview the whole family to get everyone’s input (although mom usually knows everybody’s tastes). The chef creates menus that fit all likes and dislikes. If that seems impossible, a mix of dishes could accommodate several family members, with the remaining ones geared toward the others.
Our schedule is crazy. We don’t all eat at the same time.

Can you work with that?

The chef should package to your needs, whether that is family style or individual servings. I only have 15 minutes to eat.

Can I have everything ready to heat in the microwave?

The chef wants to make your life easy. If that’s all you have time for, then the food needs to be ready when you are.

How often do you come to cook?

The service should fit your schedule and budget. It could be every 2 weeks, once a month, or whenever you need help.

Can you deliver?

Only chefs with commercial kitchens licensed and inspected by the health department can deliver. It is illegal to cook from the chef’s home and deliver.

Can you cook for my special diet or food allergies?

A chef should be upfront with you on whether they have cooked your requested diet. It would not be uncommon for the chef to ask for more information from your doctor and/or dietician. For food allergies, if the reaction is severe, the chef should only use your pots, pans, and utensils to cook your meals.

Can I sample your food before I decide to use your service?

For most chefs, this would be cost prohibitive. They do not keep an inventory of groceries on hand. Try a mini service if it is offered.

What if I don’t like the food?
A chef should guarantee the food. The meal should be replaced or money returned.

What if I don’t want my food frozen?

Ask the chef about a weekly fresh service.

I hope I’ve armed you with enough information to determine if you need help in the kitchen.

Lisa Brisch is the chef/owner of Dinner Thyme Personal Chef Service www.dinner-thyme.com.

Chef Lisa, a transplant to Middletown, DE from Phoenix, AZ, started her customized cooking business in February 2000 while in Phoenix and introduced her service to Delaware in early 2002.

Dinner Thyme offers customized meal service for those individuals and families who are too busy to cook, don’t like to cook, or don’t know how to cook. Chef Lisa is able to provide optimal results by inquiring about your likes and dislikes and any specific dietary requirements you may have. From this information, she develops a personalized menu for your approval. Chef Lisa comes to your home armed with groceries and cooking equipment and prepares personalized meals in your own kitchen. Each meal is labeled, packaged, and stored in your refrigerator and freezer with detailed reheating instructions to ensure your satisfaction. For more information, contact Dinner Thyme at 302-275-7401 or email Lisa at lisabrisch@verizon.net.

She graduated March 2001 with highest honors from the Art Institute of Phoenix culinary program. She also has a B.S. in General Business from Arizona State University.  Brisch belongs to the United States Personal Chef Association, a leader in the personal chef industry, and became a USPCA Certified Personal Chef (CPC) in December 2001.
Her CPC designation is an industry endorsement of professional expertise, showing her commitment to excellent customer service. She is also a member of Women Chefs & Restaurateurs and is president of her local USPCA chapter, Mid-Atlantic chefs.

Testimonials:
“The veal was so wonderful last night. You make the end of the day so delightful with your wonderful food. I still cannot get over the pork chops from last time. I think you got a 5 star rating on that one.”
~Robin & Marshall K.

“Lisa is an outstanding chef with a unique ability to identify personal tastes and budgetary needs in order to customize menu options. Her meals were delicious and her catered dishes were the highlight of our parties. Lisa is a valued ‘sourcing partner’ for our household and I highly recommend her services to anyone who wants to eat healthy, delicious, fresh meals without having to do the shopping, prep, cooking and clean up!”
~Jill R.