Private chefs bring the perks of fine dining to home.
There was a time when having a private chef seemed like something only possible on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Not today. Jordan Palmer, the owner of Harrisonburg’s Twice Baked Provisions, says Covid brought a renewed interest in private dining and allowed the opportunity for chefs like him to start their own operations.
Palmer was working at Roma’s in Old Town Winchester when he helped prepare a private dinner. That’s when it dawned on him that he could make a career out of the personal chef business. Twice Baked Provisions began as a side hustle in Harrisonburg, but thanks to the area’s seasonal tourist business, it quickly grew, and Palmer doesn’t see the interest in curated private dining experiences diminishing any time soon.
“People don’t cook at home as much anymore,” Palmer says. “We give them a way to enjoy an at-home meal without any stress.”
Two Fire Table in Scottsville, says the sheer novelty of having a meal privately prepared always tickles her guests. It helps that she provides dinner and a show. Rennie cooks all of her meals on a live fire outdoors.
“The most wonderful part of cooking with live fire starts before the ingredients even hit the heat,” she says. “The smell of a freshly lit fire always has guests saying ‘Wow!’”
The added value to those at her table is the experience of flavors not always available at area restaurants—coal-roasted vegetables, smoked meats paired with fermented ingredients, and sharp vinegars layered over slow-roasted dishes.
Naturally, the weather can be a dictator of an event’s success for Rennie, but she agrees with Palmer that half the fun of operating a private chef business is the challenge of each set up—be it at a home or in an open field.
“Frankly, I love the challenge,” Rennie says. Palmer agrees, though he leaves nothing to chance, packing in everything himself including all his own saute pans, knives, and robocoups, just in case. “But I also know there is always a way to overcome and adapt, and that is what makes the process rewarding in the end”—for both the chef and diners.
