Dinner’s Ready

Personal chefs assure sumptuous meals will be on the table — hot — at the end of your hard day.

By: Jodi Thompson
   Imagine this far-fetched scenario: coming home from a long day of wage-earning, opening the refrigerator and encountering — like a buoyant life preserver in a rough sea — dinner.
   Just pop it in the oven. By the time you’ve opened the mail and taken off your work clothes,
the aroma of a tasty, healthy meal permeates the house. Better yet, it’s so easy even a teen-ager or husband
could have it ready before you pull into the driveway.
   This could be a reality if you employ a personal chef. No, that’s not someone who whips up
a soufflé at 10 p.m. because it sounds good to you at the moment.

Staff photo by Jodi Thompson

Like most personal chefs, Lambertville resident Gloria Luzzatto (above), a graduate of The Restaurant School of Philadelphia, develops individualized menus after an initial client consultation.

   A personal chef will do all the shopping and cooking, leaving your freezer stocked with wonderful,
prepared meals in disposable containers. As a bonus, your counter tops will be wiped cleaner than they’ve probably
ever been, since you barely make use of them except as a landing spot for greasy take-out.
   Hireachef.com is a good place to find
personal chefs on the Web. The United States Personal Chef Association, in business for 10 years with a roster
of 8,000 certified chefs, provides this matchmaking service because the chef-client relationship is very individual.
   Like most personal chefs, Lambertville resident Gloria Luzzatto offers a variety of culinary
choices. A graduate of The Restaurant School of Philadelphia, Ms. Luzzatto studied Umbrian regional cooking
in Assisi, Italy. Her company, Glorious Gourmet, doesn’t have set menus. Ms. Luzzatto develops individualized
menus after an initial client consultation.
   "I try to be not too tied to recipes," she says. This way, she can see what is freshest when
she does her shopping and be inspired by that. After showing up at the client’s house and unloading her two
rolling carts, refrigerated chest and one medium-sized toolbox, she produces five different entrées
with appropriate side dishes. That’s a total of 20 servings in oven-proof/microwave-proof containers with fool-proof
reheating instructions.
   "I’m very organized," Ms. Luzzatto says. "I have to be. Sometimes my clients are around during
the day and they’ll come into the kitchen and see what looks like chaos. I can just read their mind: ‘Oh, my
gosh, what’s going to happen here?’ Then about a half-hour or 45 minutes later, I’ve got everything cleaned
up."
   Instead of an explanation, clients are left with Swedish meatballs with shiitake mushrooms
or chicken enchiladas. Her Mediterranean lamb stew is a client favorite, with a tomato base and zest of orange.
Pork chops Medina has wild mushrooms with a wine and tomato sauce and a light amount of cream.
   "That’s one of my own creations," Ms. Luzzatto says. "I tend to be a healthy chef because
I stay away from high-sodium items. I look for fat-free, low-sodium (in foods such as purchased broths.) That
way I can adjust the seasoning to my client’s taste."
   The first meal may not exactly suit a client’s palate, but Ms. Luzzatto welcomes input to
customize her cooking to her patron’s preferences and dietary restrictions.

Staff photo by Jodi Thompson

Ms. Luzzatto’s hidden desire is to be a pastry chef.

   She doesn’t want her clients to feel so regimented they have to eat each meal in consecutive
order or match up side dishes exactly how she intended. The food is in their freezer. Just put it in the refrigerator
the night before and reheat. It couldn’t be easier.
   Ms. Luzzatto’s hidden desire is to be a pastry chef. She mollifies this ambition with biscotti
baking. As a treat, she often leaves her clients biscotti made from an old, old family recipe. The twice-baked
biscuits are meant to be dunked in sweet dessert wine, according to her grandmother. "It really makes a difference,"
she says. But she won’t tell if you dunk them in your morning coffee.
   She often flavors the treats with anise. "I also make chocolate ones which is not traditional
to my family’s recipe, but I figure why not."
   Chocolate is always right. Chris Taylor of Trevose, Pa., understands this concept. She’s
new to U.S.P.C.A. and has run her personal chef business for a year and a half. Eventually, she’d like to turn
her Chef Express into a full-time business. For now, she also works as an event planner for Craftmatic Adjustable
Beds.
   Ms. Taylor can’t resist feeding people. A snowy day is an excuse to keep busy in the kitchen
all day. An interview for a newspaper story is an excuse to gather around her kitchen table and taste a new
recipe.
   She offers a slice of a meat-and-cheese casserole with generous amounts of vegetables stuffed
between layers of flour tortillas and a hint of cinnamon. It’s like an entrée, vegetable and dessert
all in one.
   Clients enjoy her lemon-wine chicken. She also is famous for several varieties of macaroni
and cheese. A recent client fell for Chef Express’ entrées. He bought the two-week service as a Christmas
gift for his wife, which turned out to be a gift for himself, as well.
   "He said my stuffed pork chops were the best he’s ever eaten," Ms. Taylor says.
   Ms. Taylor is expert at staying within a budget, too. If a client only wants to spend a certain
amount, say, for a baby-shower gift, she can work out two different chicken dishes and a cake for a reasonable
cost. Her intimate dinner for two, including flowers, costs $125.
   Don Weimer, by day a newspaper circulation director, serves as personal chef to Bucks County
clients by the light of the moon. The Westampton resident, formerly of Holland, Pa., has been with U.S.P.C.A.
for two months but has extensive restaurant experience. He even owned a restaurant for a time. He is rather
flexible, having cooked in Mexican and Italian restaurants as well as producing good old American home cooking.
   Mr. Weimer’s company, The Invisible Gourmet, also provides a personalized grocery shopping
service each week. As if anything could possibly be more romantic than not having to run to the market, Invisible
Gourmet also prepares intimate dinners, a five-course meal "expertly prepared and elegantly served by the chef
for between two and 10 guests."
   Invisible Gourmet can provide servers, bartenders and cooking staff for dinner parties and
receptions up to 60 guests, or prepare a quiet dinner for two.
   Mr. Weimer allows clients to choose from his menu. He establishes cuisine likes and dislikes,
spice tolerance, allergies and other dietary concerns with the client before serving them.
   U.S.P.C.A. statistics show one third of personal chefs are refugees from corporate America,
as with Ms. Taylor; one third have culinary training, as with Mr. Weimer and Ms. Luzzatto, and one third simply
love to cook.
   Very likely, they share Ms. Taylor’s passion. "I enjoy cooking," she says. "That’s what I
like to do best."
For information on Chef Express, call (215) 208-0640 or e-mail [email protected].
For information on Glorious Gourmet, call (609) 658-8275. On the Web: www.uspca.net/nj/ggpcs.
For information on The Invisible Gourmet, call (609) 261-0253. On the Web: www.invisiblegourmet.com.
U.S.P.C.A. on the Web: www.uspca.com.