Personal Chefs

High School

A home economics course can give you a good taste of what it's like to be a personal chef. You'll learn something about cooking, budgeting for groceries, and how to use various cooking equipment and appliances. A course in health will teach you about nutrition and a proper diet. Take a business course that offers lessons in bookkeeping and accounting to help you prepare for the record-keeping aspect of the job. A composition or communications course can help you develop the writing skills you'll need for self-promotion. Join a business organization for the chance to meet with small business owners, and to learn about the fundamentals of business operation.

Postsecondary Training

Both the American Personal & Private Chef Association and the United States Personal Chef Association offer self-study courses and seminars on the personal chef business. These courses are not designed to teach people how to cook, but rather how to start a service, how to market it, how much to charge for services, and other concerns specific to the personal chef business. These courses also offer recipes for foods that freeze and store well.

A formal education isn't required of personal chefs, but a good culinary school can give you valuable cooking experience. With a degree, you can pursue work in restaurants, hotels, health care facilities, and other industries needing the expertise of professional cooks. Culinary programs include courses in vegetarian cooking, menu design, food safety and sanitation, along with courses like economics and math.

Sullivan University, in partnership with the American Personal & Private Chef Association, was the first accredited culinary-arts program to offer a diploma specific to the roles of personal chefs. Visit https://sullivan.edu/college-of-hospitality-studies/professional-cooks-diploma for more information.