With home dining on the rise, a complete guide to Charleston area private chefs for hire
Originally published on July 20, 2020 in The Post and Courier
By Hanna Raskin
Remember when people thought their homes were for showering and sleeping?
Then the coronavirus pandemic arrived and it suddenly became apparent the address that appears on one’s driver’s license and junk mail doesn’t belong to a mere residence alone. Over the course of the lockdown, people discovered their homes could function as schoolhouses, office complexes and entertainment arenas.
And as it turns out, a home also can double as an excellent restaurant.
With coronavirus still far from contained in South Carolina, many avid eaters are understandably wary about venturing into confined spaces with respiratory droplets galore. But at least in the Charleston area, where there’s a surfeit of trained chefs and practiced home cooks, it’s not necessary to take restaurant risks for a memorable meal.
Because they operate independently and in separate social networks, personal chefs are sometimes seen as a sidebar to the dynamism of the Lowcountry’s culinary scene. Yet they’re among the region’s foremost interpreters of local ingredients and consistent standard bearers for hospitality and quality at a time when restaurant owners are increasingly distracted by staffing woes and rising rents.
Hiring a private or personal chef (the terms are interchangeable) has always had advantages, chief among them that the client gets to eat precisely what he or she wants to eat, even if it’s creamed mackerel in puff pastry and smoked pinto beans.
Yet clients are also the beneficiaries of personal chefs’ nimble ways with sourcing. A personal chef can purchase a just-caught obscure fish that would terrify a restaurant chef in need of 30 matching specials to sell to tourists keen on chicken breasts. And while using a personal chef is hardly the height of frugality, the costs can compare favorably to those incurred in restaurants, especially if the party plans to drink wine with dinner.
In the age of coronavirus, though, hiring a personal chef has become even more attractive, in part because a meal is typically prepared and served by one or two business owners, as opposed to dozens of underpaid strangers. Additionally, whoever hosts the dinner gets to make the rules. If you want to position your guests at 8-foot intervals, that’s your prerogative.
(Just make sure to brief the chef beforehand on your plans and expectations. If you’re bowing out of restaurants because you think they’ve become too restrictive, a chef has a right to know in advance that you’re dispensing with masks and social distancing, and to decline the job if he or she isn’t comfortable with the arrangement.)
Of course, there is no force field around your home keeping the virus out, so it’s still wise when hosting to keep gatherings small; encourage guests to stay home if they’re not feeling well; provide plenty of hand sanitizer; and avoid shared plates.
Really, though, with the following chefs cooking, who’s going to want to share?
Diners seeking professional chefs to prepare at-home meals have long had to rely on sweeping internet searches or secondhand recommendations from friends, so The Post and Courier has compiled the first comprehensive directory of personal chefs in the Charleston area.
Or it’s very close to comprehensive. A few of the contacted chefs declined to participate, saying they picked up all of the business they could handle while restaurant dining rooms were closed.
In addition to providing basic information about their background, chefs also were asked to describe their cooking styles in five words or less; propose a menu for an imaginary woman in West Ashley throwing a 50th birthday dinner for four friends, one of whom doesn’t eat meat; and describe a challenging situation they’ve encountered in the course of their career.
Their answers should help you select the right chef for your home. Or is that a pop-up restaurant you’re living in?
Ty Kotz
Services offered: On-site meal preparation and presentation
Cooking style: “Local, seasonal, ingredient-driven cuisine.”
Professional experience: Kotz spent 25 years working in New York City’s top fine dining restaurants, including some associated with Danny Meyer, Tom Colicchio and Floyd Cardoz. Kotz assisted Cardoz, who in March died of the coronavirus, in competitive television appearances, including a winning turn on"Top Chef Masters.
Let's say you were asked to prepare a 50th birthday dinner in West Ashley for a woman and four of her close friends, one of whom is vegetarian. Assuming you would of course work closely with the client to come up with her ideal meal, what menu would you pitch as a starting point?
Kotz declined to specify a menu, saying “No two menus are ever the same, and every day local ingredients change. I really want the experience to be created specifically for (the client) in that time and place.”
Allowing for the many variables which go into pricing an event, can you provide a cost range for the above meal?
Kotz charges a minimum of $750 for an event, calculated at $125 per person for a small group, or $1,000, plus $35 per person for a larger gathering.
Can you give one example of a challenging client request and how you were able to accommodate it?
“One client asked for a multicourse vegan Indian menu to celebrate family members and friends. Everyone in the group was Indian and all different ages. I used all local produce and received the best compliment I've ever gotten: The guest of honor's aunt said it reminded her of the food she ate growing up as a child in India.
What added precautions are you taking to prevent the spread of coronavirus?
“I am extremely sensitive to this subject. I lost my best friend and mentor to this virus and I know how awful it is. I have the benefit of my best friend here being a lead doctor at MUSC: I have consulted him for how I should go about my services. Most importantly, I have an in-depth conversation with my prospective client about my approach as well as theirs during this time. I will never put myself in a situation that I am not comfortable in, and I want my clients to be assured of how particular I will be at every stage.”
Do you have any working restrictions of which prospective clients should be aware?
Bottom line, I hear every inquiry and respond personally. If I am available and my client likes what they hear, we are off to an incredible food experience.
E-mail: tymkotz@gmail.com
Phone number: 917-334-3381