Today we’d like to introduce you to Chef Jess Hilton.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chef Jess. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve always been obsessed with food. When I was little, the first question I would ask my mom in the morning was, “what’s for dinner?” Even now, I book restaurant reservations before booking plane tickets.
After moving to Southern California from the east coast nearly 20 years ago, I went to cooking school and loved it. I wanted to adopt the classic techniques and recipes into lighter, healthier dishes. I wanted to make delicious food that was also really good for you too. This led me to become a holistic nutrition consultant. Along the way, I picked up a private chef job which was awesome but never thought I could make a career out of it. Fifteen years later and I’m still working as a private chef. I rarely work with one family at a time. Instead, I have several clients usually families or single professionals. My clients all have one thing in common, they want to eat delicious food that is healthy and not too weird. My style of cooking revolves around sustainable, local, farmers market-driven ingredients. What I want to convey to people is everyone needs to eat more vegetables. Whatever your preferred diet, you need more vegetables. The other point I try to convey through my food is vegetables do not have to be bland or boring. They can be exciting and delicious!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s never a smooth road when you work for yourself. I have a company of one. The biggest challenge I face is the constant worry about where clients will come from. There are always dry spells when people move away, change jobs, etc, and I’m always open to new clients, but I don’t really have the budget to advertise. Fortunately, great word-of-mouth has helped me sustain my business for more than a decade.
Please tell us about more Chef Jess.
The majority of my business consists of private chef clients. Additionally, I offer in-home cooking classes. I specialize in plant-based meals, incorporating loads of vegetables into my dishes. What sets me apart is I’m a micro culinary business, I don’t have the ability to mass-produce food. I do all the shopping and hand-select the best ingredients from local farmers markets.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
It doesn’t really benefit me to look back on past decisions. I try to focus on what the future brings!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jesshilton.com
- Email: jesscooksandruns@gmail.com
- Instagram: jesshiltoncooks
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