CHEF FOR HIRE Serving Hassle-free Cuisine in the Comfort of Your Home
	MAY 2005

by Niel Ruggiero
Photos by Russell Byrne

I grew up helping my mom in the kitchen. She was a native-born Italian — from Ischia, which is a little island off of Naples. She was the oldest daughter in her family. The responsibility for cooking family meals had rested on her shoulders for a number of years so she was already an accomplished cook when she came to America at age 14.

My mom taught my brother and me how to cook because she predicted — correctly, as it turned out — that neither of us would marry a woman who had any training in the kitchen. After we married, I taught my wife how to cook and now she does a pretty good job of it when called upon to do so. She does an especially good job with a holiday turkey.

A New Title for my New Profession
I’ve got a profession that many people don’t even know is a profession. In fact, I didn’t even know the right name for it myself until the city told me what I had to call it.

My original intention was to begin serving meals in my own home. I discovered that such a business requires a certified kitchen, which must meet health department standards. A certified kitchen also requires commercial zoning.

The city informed me that, lacking a certified kitchen, I could serve clients in their own homes. It turned out that the professional title for such a thing is Licensed Chef for Hire. I cook and serve Italian family style meals in private homes. I create meals for clients — do the shopping, bring the cookware, provide serving utensils, and clean up my own mess.

I believed that people would resent the requirement that I do my work in their kitchen. Just the opposite has been happening, however. I’m learning that people really enjoy the experience of being served in their own homes. I’ve discovered that serving folks in their own place carries with it some advantages. Most obviously, they don’t have to go anywhere.

My clients keep discovering how convenient and cozy they can be in their own domestic environments when they don’t have to fuss and prepare for guests. They can continue daily experiences like paying attention to their kids and answering the phone. They can drink without requiring a designated driver.

Another unanticipated advantage is that my clients get to enjoy the smells — and the leftovers stay right in their own refrigerators. Family and friends also enjoy dining in familiar contexts. They can visit freely with their hosts, enjoying the fact that the master of the house is free to entertain them. They can wander around the kitchen, smell the aromas, and taste samples of the coming feast.

The Way You Like it
My specialty is Italian cuisine, since I got most of my recipes from my mom. The Frittatas I make, for example, is exactly the one my mom made for me when I came home from school.

My mother-in-law, however, gave me the recipe for a carrot cake that is the best I ever tasted. I can say that as a connoisseur of carrot cakes; I eat these every time I go out.

I invented my own tiramisu. It took me five tries to get it right, but, like my carrot cake, it is also the best I ever ate. The Fettuccini Alfredo is my own, as is the Chicken Piccata and Roasted Pasta Primavera.

My specialties include Chicken Parmesan and Rigatoni Lasagna. I have an especially good Pesto.

I have sufficient dishes in my repertoire that my clients can create a specialty dinner to their own liking. I’m good at advising clients about their menu selections. I try to put myself in their shoes. What are they trying to accomplish with the meal? Are there children? If so, what are their ages? What would this entrée or that one be like for them?

I work with my clients. I probe to find out what would be most suitable for them. “Do you like lemony flavors?” I might ask. Or “Do you like mild or spicy?”

Clients can go to my website and read all the ingredients of every dish. If they are allergic to clams, for example, there’s no chance that they will have a reaction from one of my meals. I make a point of never serving people a dish they shouldn’t eat.

Dinner: A Family Affair
Good food and nutritious meals are more than a way to make an income for me. I perform community service with a program I designed, called “Bringing Families Together.” I bring lessons to the classroom geared for children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Family meals play an important role in promoting healthy families. I believe the decline of quality family mealtimes is one of the contributing causes of some families in which family members fall out of touch with each other. My lessons are designed to help reinforce the value of families dining together. They provide occasions when family members sit down to have a healthy meal together and share with each other the things that are happening in their lives.

Members of our modern society continue losing the basic skills and attitudes to have dinner together. I’m doing what I can to promote a trend of getting back to family mealtimes. I take my “Bringing Families Together” program right into classrooms and teach kids the importance of families enjoying meals together. I show the children what they can do to make this happen — everything from sweeping the floor in order to give mom time to cook, to setting the table, to suggesting recipes.

I demonstrate to the kids everything that’s involved except for the cooking itself. I lead them through the process of choosing tablecloths and centerpieces. I bring cookbooks to the classroom and teach the children how to plan a menu. I supply paper plates so they can learn to set the table. I provide buttered pasta, veggies, bread & butter, and fruit so that the children, not only are able to practice table etiquette, but they can actually experience sitting down to a meal with other people.

Kindergarten to fifth grade is the perfect age for my lessons. By that age some of the children already know what I am talking about and are eager learners.

Some of my meals, themselves, have turned into memorable occasions of child participation! I discovered three boys in one family who really loved helping me bread some chicken. They apparently enjoyed the whole hands-on aspect of the experience — enthusiastically assembling the flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs in a bowl and mixing it. They obviously enjoyed getting their hands messy.

After the boys were finished with that part, however, they showed no interest in setting the table. I’m not sure whether they were actually engaged in learning how to prepare a good meal or if they simply liked the novelty of being involved in food preparation.

Enjoying My Second Life
I retired after working for decades for the phone company. During most of those 30 years I was wishing I could quit working for them and start a cooking business for myself. When the possibility of early retirement came up three years ago, my wife said, “You’ve wanted this for 30 years, Niel. Just do it!”

My clients sometimes have such a great time that once I actually got jealous of them. “These people are having so much fun!” I thought. “They’re eating my dinner and enjoying my food. Their conversation is really interesting. I wish I were experiencing what they are experiencing. I wish this were my party!”

I had to laugh at that reaction, and I only experienced it strongly that one time. It was kind of a weird thing — and an epiphany because it was that moment that I figured out what my business really was. “They love this experience,” I thought. “I’m doing what I wanted to do.” That’s when I really began to completely love what my service is about.

Some people tell me that my personality makes a difference in their enjoyment of my services. Some clients even set a place for me at the table and invite me to sit down and join them in the meal. This is fun, of course, but it interferes a little bit with my rhythm. I really need to be cleaning up at some point during that time.

I’ve made a nice collection of serving bowls and platters. I’m selective about these things. Clients are able to serve my food from dishes that fit right in with the style that they are trying to establish; it affects the ambience in a wonderful way.

My clients are free to do whatever food preparation they prefer. They can create their own appetizers, for example, and leave the rest of the meal up to me.

I don’t always conduct my business in family-and-friends contexts; I’ve also cooked up meals for rooms full of strangers. My clients, for example, have been called upon to host a group of visiting businesspeople, and lack the time or energy to devote to food preparation. They let me do all that so they can focus on conducting business and making good use of their time with their clients or customers.

Some people hire me as a gift they give to others. On Mothers Day, for example, they might have me come in to prepare a special meal for their mothers or wives.

Other people give my service to themselves instead of giving it to others. I think they imagine that their undivided attention is itself a gift they can give to their friends, along with an evening centered on wholesome delicious Italian cuisine.

I’m in an unusual kind of profession — but a wonderful one! Sometimes when I describe my business for the first time to people, their initial reaction is to think it is a little strange. But then they often start thinking of ways they could use my services –- and sometimes begin remembering times in the past that they wished my services had been available for them to use. They start telling me how great my business plan is! It’s an inspiring experience for any businessman when potential customers begin thinking of reasons why his product or service is so wonderful!