Portland Caterers Portland, OR

Portland personal chefs discuss their services

What services do you offer?

Heather Mader: "The main service is the personal chef service. I also do in-home catering, romantic dinners, cocktail parties, dinner parties, cooking lessons and cooking demos."

Shana Larsen: "Our main service is the personal chef service. We offer cooking class, demonstrations, and smaller catering - usually for less than 30 people - on the side."

Brittany Baldwin: "In-home meal preparation, small-event catering and cooking classes. I also grow many of the vegetables and in the next few months will be selling farm-fresh eggs."

How do you charge for your services, and what's the cost?

Mader: "I listen to the client to determine how much food they need and come up with a chef's fee. The client pays for their own groceries. My fees start at about $225 and go up from there."

Larsen: "We charge by package, which includes the chef's time, planning, containers and groceries. We charge separately for anything else. Our standard service is $350 and will typically feed a family of four for five days."

Baldwin: "I charge $35 an hour, plus the cost of groceries. That includes shopping time and cleanup. It usually costs a family of three or four $150 a week for four or five dinners, with some leftovers."

Do you have a set menu?

Mader: "I have hundreds of menu items. The menu is very tailored to each client. I'm extremely versatile."

Larsen: "It's not set at all. It's based on people's preferences. I usually just make suggestions based on what the clients tell us and then let them choose."

Baldwin: "I send out a brand-new menu every Friday. It emphasizes fruits and vegetables that are in season."

What dish is your specialty?

Mader: "Any type of dessert comes naturally to me. I make a special buttermilk cake that people tend to order over and over again. I can also make any kind of tarts."

Larsen: "My real interest is taking things people are really familiar with and doing different variations of them."

Baldwin: "I worked in New Mexico for [a while] in a kitchen on a ranch. I learned about really good authentic Southwestern food. It's hard to find in Portland, so my clients order those items the most."

Will you cater to people's dietary needs?

Mader: "Yes. I'd say at least 50 percent of my clientele are people who have special dietary needs and either can't or don't enjoy cooking."

Larsen: "Yes, definitely. Allergy-specific cooking is getting easier as there are more products in the market."

Baldwin: "Yes, of course."

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