On this week’s Chefs Without Restaurants podcast I have chef Pailin Chongchitnant, host of the YouTube channel Pailin’s Kitchen, and author of the companion website Hot Thai Kitchen. She recently released her 2nd cookbook, Sabai: 100 Simple Thai Recipes for Any Day of the Week. This episode is for you if you’ve wanted to learn to cook Thai food.
On This Week’s Podcast
This episode is a primer on Thai food and cooking. She dispels some Thai food myths, and shares her top five items for stocking a Thai pantry at home. We discuss why she was compelled to write another cookbook, and she shares how she grew her YouTube channel to over 1.5 million subscribers and almost 170 million views.
As always, the episode link is below, and the podcast is available on all platforms (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pandora)
Relevant Links and Where to Learn About Pailin Chongchitnant
On this week’s podcast, I discuss the dangers of free work for personal chefs. As a personal chef, my business is centered around providing my clients with a restaurant-style experience in the comfort of their own home. This includes personalized menus, table service, and even bringing my own cooking equipment and dishware. However, one mistake I made in the early days of my business was thinking that attending events and giving out free food was a good way to market myself and attract paying customers. In this post, I’ll share some of my experiences with this approach and why I believe it ultimately doesn’t work.
The Problems with Free Work
One of the main issues with doing free work is that it can be difficult to effectively showcase your skills and services when you’re limited to a small, sample-sized portion of food at an event. My business is based on providing an in-home dining experience with personalized menus and table service, which is not something that can be easily translated to a six-foot table in a mall on a Sunday afternoon. Additionally, the caliber of food I’m able to give away for free is not going to be on par with what I’m able to serve at a full-scale dinner event.
Another issue with free work is that it can be time-consuming and costly. For example, I once paid to have a table at an event and gave out hundreds of portions of free food, only to have people come by, grab a bite, and move on to the next table without taking a business card or showing any real interest in hiring me. Similarly, I was once convinced to do a dinner on a boat, which involved a lot of time and effort setting up and preparing food on a grill. While I had hoped to get some exposure to food media and potentially land some gigs as a result, the event ended up being a disaster and I didn’t end up getting any new business out of it.
The Better Alternative
Simply put…Don’t do it. After experiencing a number of failures with this approach, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not necessary (or even effective) to do free work in order to succeed in business. I’ve found that my skills and services are valuable enough that I don’t need to give them away for free in order to attract paying customers. Over the past five years, my side hustle has become my primary source of income, and I’ve been able to build a successful business without having to attend expos or work for free.
Final Take-away
Doing free work as a personal chef (or in any creative or service-based business) is not a successful marketing strategy. While it may seem like a good way to get in front of potential customers, it’s ultimately time-consuming, costly, and might not effectively showcase your skills and services. Instead, focus on the value you can provide to your clients and charge accordingly. This will not only help you build a successful business, but it will also help you attract the right kind of clients who are willing to pay for your services.
Relevant Links and Where to Learn About Chefs Without Restaurants
This week on the podcast I have James Beard Foundation Award-winner, chef Virginia Willis. She was the TV kitchen director for Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay, and Nathalie Dupree and executive producer for Epicurious TV on the Discovery Channel. She’s made cookies with Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson, foraged for berries in the Alaskan wilderness, harvested capers in Sicily, and beguiled celebrities such as Jane Fonda and Bill Clinton with her cooking — but it all started in her grandmother’s country kitchen. Virginia is the author of a number of books including Lighten Up, Y’all, Basic to Brilliant, Y’all, Okra, and Grits.
On This Week’s Podcast
On the show, we discuss how she got into writing cookbooks, how her cooking style has changed, and her wellness journey which has led to her losing 70 pounds. We talk about food media, and credible sources for recipes and cooking tips. Virginia’s also passionate about sustainable seafood, and we discuss that as well.
This Week’s Sponsor
Looking to make better pizza? How about bagels, bread, or English muffins? Then you need a Baking Steel. Don’t just take my word for it. Kenji López-Altof Serious Eats/The Food Lab said “this is the answer I’ve been waiting for to produce consistently awesome pizza over and over”.
Relevant Links and Where to Learn About Virginia Willis
This week on the podcast I have personal chef and cooking instructor Matt Finarelli. Matt was a guest on our show way back in March 2020. In fact, he might’ve been the last in-person show that we recorded before the Covid shut down. If you’re interested in hearing that episode, it was number 24, and you can find the link here.
Due to the situation with Covid, Matt didn’t feel comfortable going into people’s homes to cook or provide lessons. But, like most people, he needed some form of income. So, Matt turned to online cooking classes. It wasn’t something he had experience with, but he found a way to make it work. Now, he wants to share that knowledge with you.
On This Week’s Podcast
Matt talks about how he got started, and what he learned along the way. He’ll tell you what gear he’s using, how he sets up the online classes, and what his price structure looks like. While Matt plans on going back to in-home dinners and lessons, he says that he’ll definitely be continuing to do the online classes, and wanted to provide tactical information to help you set up a similar business. If you’d like to learn how to make money with online cooking classes, this is the episode for you.
This Week’s Sponsor
Looking to make better pizza? How about bagels, bread, or English muffins? Then you need a Baking Steel. Don’t just take my word for it. Kenji López-Altof Serious Eats/The Food Lab said “this is the answer I’ve been waiting for to produce consistently awesome pizza over and over”.
Relevant Links and Where to Learn About Matt Finarelli
This week my podcast guest is Emmanuel Laroche. Emmanuel has more than 20 years in the food ingredient industry, and is currently in charge of marketing for a company that manufactures flavors for food and beverage companies like Unilever and Nestle.
In 2018 Emmanuel launched the Flavors Unknown podcast. Every other week he speaks to the chefs, pastry chefs, and bartenders who are creating tomorrow’s trends. Full disclosure… I was a guest this Spring, and you can hear me on episode 65.
On This Week’s Podcast
Emmanuel has a master’s degree in organic chemistry, and an internship for his MBA led him to this career in flavor manufacturing. On the show, you’ll hear his origin story. We also talk about his podcast, how and why he started it, and some takeaways from the guests he’s had on his show. Some of his guests include chefs Andrew McLeod, Levon Wallace, Philip Spear, Misti Norris, and today he’s releasing an episode with pastry chef François Payard.
This Week’s Sponsor
Looking to hire employees for your restaurant? This week’s sponsor is Savory Jobs, a job site only for restaurants. For just $50, get unlimited job postings for an entire year. Use discount code SAVORY10 to save 10%
Relevant Links and Where to Learn About Emmanuel Laroche and Flavors Unknown
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