| These food docs make house calls 03/28/2001 By Susan Taylor / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Kick off your shoes and relax. A chef will be cooking dinner tonight at
your house – and doing the shopping and cleaning up, too.
More than 150 clients in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have enjoyed the
services of TravelingChefs, which provides galloping gourmands to cook
meals when you want them.
Before you roll your eyes, thinking this is out of your league, do the
math on what you spend at restaurants and on takeout each week. Lisa
Kleypas of Oak Cliff did so and discovered that, while TravelingChefs is
a tad more expensive than stopping for takeout, "I work so much [that] I
wasn't eating right. How much is your health worth?"
TravelingChefs provides options for singles, couples and families, and
takes into account the ages and tastes of kids: teenagers are treated as
adults and younger kids have their own menu. Packages range in price
from $100 to $120 (not including the cost of groceries or tax) and
include one weekly visit by the chef, who does the shopping, cooking and
kitchen cleanup.
Based on the package, the chef prepares a combination of entrees, side
dishes, lunch and/or breakfast items. You can choose from a global menu
of main courses such as Cajun Chicken Fricassee, Lobster Newburg, Thai
Poached Fish and Noodles, Grilled Lebanese Chicken Kabobs, Chinese
Shrimp Stir-fry, and Beef Burgundy. If you have special diet needs, your
chef will work with you to create meals. Some packages come with side
dishes and desserts. Your chef will store your meals in your containers
with instructions for reheating.
The chefs of TravelingChefs have a range of cooking styles. The chefs
include Gille Ferme, who worked at Cafe Pacific and Addison Café; Rachel
Brown, whose résumé includes Joey's, Landry's and Café Brazil; Lucy
Footlik, a former caterer with a focus on low-fat, heart-healthy
cooking; and Chris Coble, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who
worked in restaurants in St. John and St. Croix.
You are assigned a chef based on your taste and dietary preferences. And
if your knives aren't sharp or your Tupperware's in disarray, the chefs
bring their own knives and will pick up new storage containers.
To find out more about TravelingChefs, call 972-248-0402.
Susan Taylor is a Dallas-based free-lance writer.
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