If you have not engaged a private chef yet, there is a good chance you have heard of someone who has — and if you have heard of someone who has, you likely were curious to know more. That is the way of the world, or at least the way of the world here in New Jersey, as “private chefs” are trending up. Before talking with a few about their own stories, it is worth exploring why the appearance and popularity of private chefs is on the rise.
New Jerseyans love good food, and many will pay well for it. The best restaurants — and among them some of the more expensive ones — are typically difficult to get a table on weekends and special nights, unless you made reservations weeks in advance. Prices across the board have risen at restaurants, too, making the cost of a “special night in” not significantly different from the cost of a “special night out.”
New Jerseyans also love new food experiences. They flock to new restaurants and special food events. An “in-home” specially crafted dinner is a new food experience for many.
Not to mention New Jerseyans like convenience. Most restaurant-goers have a mileage or drive time limit for heading out to eat. What is more convenient than the travel time or distance within one’s own home, no matter the square footage?
It’s no secret the Garden State has a large and growing number of talented chefs and food artisans. Proximity to New York and Philadelphia alongside the exodus to the suburbs has played a large part in this. Ongoing socioeconomic impacts from the pandemic that will likely long outlast most of the variants are factoring into everything from costs to lifestyle decisions. The restaurant business has always been a difficult life from well before March 2020, no matter how easy some establishments make it seem.
Food professionals will tell you it is in their blood, and many who have left restaurants are still drawn to cooking and creating, despite the often-overwhelming challenges. The private chef route has been one many have opted for out of necessity, by choice or some combination of both. Or, in reality, as you will see, because private chefs offer different types of services altogether.
One more point made by any private chef: Private chefs may do some catering, but they are not full-service caterers. As one remarked, “The difference is I am not filling steam table pans for dinner.”
Matt Collins has worked in some of the most notable restaurants. Photo courtesy of Chef Collins Events
Matt Collins, Chef Collins Events, Asbury Park
Matt Collins is a 2009 graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and has worked in some of the most notable restaurants but, by his own admission, was cooking since age 9. “From watching Jacques Pépin on TV, Hollandaise sauce intrigued me.”
Collins built his business through a significant social media presence, accounting for 40% to 50% of his business. Other customers have found him through internet searches and word of mouth. Unlike some other private chefs, you can, at times, find him out in the wild. He does occasional public events and pop-ups at places like Ava’s Kitchen & Bar in Kenilworth, which allows him to cook from a different perspective and allows more people to try his food.
He started his personal/private chef business four years ago when he decided he could not financially commit to a brick-and-mortar presence. Collins draws a clear distinction between what he does and a typical caterer, such as a specifically tailored menu for any engagement as opposed to a preset menu, and finishing cooking on-site with plated dinners.
The challenge of not having an actual location, according to Collins, is “constantly letting people know who and where you are,” although he does seem to be everywhere doing private dinners all over the state, and in New York and Pennsylvania, too. Working as he does, he not only has more choice in the engagements he takes on, but also more freedom to source ingredients, typically on a seasonal and local basis.
Collins said the ideal is two to four weeks lead time for planning a dinner. He currently is booking up to three months out. You can find him on Instagram at @chefcollinsevents or at chefcollinsevents.com.
Lauren Owens believes in bringing restaurant quality food into her clients’ homes and getting people to eat better. Photo courtesy of Tiny Onion Chef Services
Lauren Owens, Tiny Onion Chef Services, Metuchen
Lauren Owens describes herself as a “chef by trade and spirit.” After almost 20 years in the restaurant world in New York and New Jersey, she realized she didn’t want to work for anyone any longer and jumped off the corporate ladder into what she calls “an ocean of freedom.” Of course, one needs to be able to swim to do so, and Owens is capable of swimming a medley of different styles.
It’s a gig economy, and Owens wears different hats under the Tiny Onion header. She runs two-hour cooking sessions that include instruction and household menu development, and she has several meal prep clients where she prepares the food for them weekly or biweekly in their homes. She is also the consulting chef at Duke Farms Garden Kitchen in Hillsborough.
Two themes run through her approach to her business: Hospitality and health and wellness. She believes in bringing restaurant quality into her clients’ homes and getting people to eat better. She develops personal and consultative relationships with her in-home-based services. Owens does do private dinner parties in-home for small groups, but what excites her most is what she calls her Date Night service, crafting special, multicourse meals for couples.
Owens also uses social media to spread the word. “I let people into my life on Instagram because a lot of them allow me into their lives, their homes.” Someday, she would like to open not a restaurant but a Tiny Onion shop, where she can combine the different projects under one roof, but for now, the waters she is in are just fine.
Find Owens at @cheflaurenowens on Instagram or by visiting tinyonion.net.
Food is surely in Sophia Manatakis’ blood, as her grandfathers on both sides of her family were butchers, and her father was a New York City restaurateur until his death. Photo courtesy of Chef Soph
Sophia Manatakis, Chef Soph, Mountainside
One is not sure what moves more with Sophia Manatakis — her mind or her feet. The woman has a bunch of projects in various stages, all focused on feeding people and making them happy. It is surely in her blood, as her grandfathers on both sides of her family were butchers, and her father was a New York City restaurateur until his death. She then took the reins of the restaurant with her mother before closing it during the pandemic.
Manatakis attended the then French Culinary Institute in New York (now the International Culinary Center), and it seems she has been launching one project or idea after another ever since. Uploading cooking videos on Instagram led to a meal prep business. She scrapped her website, got rid of business cards and built her business through word of mouth. Two Food Network appearances, one on “Chopped” and the other on “Family Food Showdown” with Valerie Bertinelli, didn’t hurt her marketing efforts.
Laura Owens prepares for a dinner party.
One of her specialties for private events is putting together elaborate grazing tables. While she has done larger-scale parties, her favorite private chef moments are plated dinners for four to eight people. “Those are the most personal, and I feel like a part of the party,” she added.
Up next for Manatakis is a soon-to-be-released line of Greek olive oil. Beyond that, based on her track record, it will be any number of projects where she puts her personal touch on feeding people.
In putting this feature together, it is clear there is demand for the various services Manatakis, Owens, Collins and others provide. Plan ahead when trying to engage a private chef. It is not like ordering takeout, and these and other private chefs put time and planning into what they offer. The better ones are becoming as tough to book as some Saturday night reservations at top local restaurants. If you do, though, you will get a very pointed, professional and personal experience of your choosing.
