Personal Chef Substitute Personal Chef THE How-to Booklet of Solo Dining Tips & Strategies is now available. Visit: Lifestyle Skills Excerpts from: "Personal Chefs Cater to The Time-Starved" — The Boston Globe — 3/4/07 "Personal chefs like Silver, the proprietor of Sweet and Savory Personal Chef Services in Brookline, are no longer for just the rich and famous. Busy two-career families like the . . . , people with restricted diets, single professionals, and seniors who can't cook for themselves are increasingly using the services of personal chefs , says John Moore, executive director of the United States Personal Chef Association . He estimates there are 5,000 personal chefs nationwide, serving about 72,000 clients. In the Boston area alone, there are over 100 personal chefs. Personal chefs are not to be confused with private chefs, who typically live in a client's home and cook for only one family, says Moore. Personal chefs have numerous clients and are known for home-cooked meals that must be cooked in the client's kitchen, unless they are prepared in a commercially licensed kitchen. Their services can include customized menu planning and grocery shopping. The best way to find a personal chef is online through associations such as, American Personal and Private Chef Association (PersonalChef.com), and the United States Personal Chef Association (USPCA.com) . Pricing can vary . Some chefs will include groceries in a flat fee; others add groceries to labor charges, which are usually around $50 an hour. (1) Many of you asked for information on meal assembly facilities located in the United States. To view our growing list, click: meal assembly resources SoloDining.com is pleased to share the following meal assembly resources: Let’s Eat! — Tampa, Florida "What if I have a small family or I am single? At the time of assembly, simply divide your meal into half portions and put them into separate ziplocs or pans. We provide half size pans for you to split your meals. " Social Suppers: Come on in . . . while enjoying the experience with friends (new and old.) — Kansas City, Missouri "Use Split-a-Session* and divide your 8 meals into 16 or 12 meals into 24. If you use this option and bring a friend you can each take home half the smaller portion meals." DinnerSmith: What's for dinner? DinnerSmith is your easy answer — Maplewood, New Jersey Co-owner Mary Meade Smith e-mails: "I just found your article and wanted to let you know about our services for singles. We allow our customers to divide the large meals in as many as three or four containers during a regular session. Singles in the metro area come in with their friends who may or may not have families or partners. Sometimes singles share their package, each taking half the package. Or they make one meal. We are just outside the city in New Jersey and most of our customers are commuters to Manhattan. Any single person can beneifit from our services because we are all about what each customers needs. No family , no problem. Welcome to DinnerSmith." The Dinner Station: Making Tracks from Our Kitchen to Your Table — Highland Village/Corinth, Texas "I found your site from a meal assembly link. I live in the Dallas area. We have a new franchise called The Dinner Station. The food is great and they offer half size packages. The others [assembly franchises] allow you to split, but then you have 24 meals or need to find a friend. The Dinner Station allows 8, 12, or 16 three serving meals. I can cook one, eat one serving, freeze the other two so I get 24 meals for $85. I love it." Jennifer Cooking for One Cookbooks If you have questions or comments about this Web page or site, e-mail: webmaster@SoloDining.com. © 2011 SoloDining.com Return to Top