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Seven years, big changes: Manville restaurant owner talks local food scene
Brissa Rojas Jimenez, daughter of the owner of O’rale Mexican Restaurant in Manville, discusses the changes she has seen in the Manville food scene since her family’s restaurant opened seven years ago.
When my husband and I first moved in together, I dreamed of the elaborate dinner parties, holiday dinners and barbecues we would host with our combined stovetop skills.
However, I quickly discovered that the easiest way to have fun at your own party is to not do all the cooking.
That’s where these New Jersey personal chefs come in, some who travel from the top to the bottom of the state cooking for everything from weddings to Christmas dinner.
If you want to escape the kitchen this December, call these personal chefs for a custom, restaurant-quality meal prepared and served in your own home for your holiday celebration.
Autumn Olive Food Works
Gabby Aron isn’t just a personal chef. She’s also more than a restaurant garden manager, event planner, cooking class instructor, catering manager or farmer — and she’s had more titles than that over the years.
She’s a food storyteller.
“I focus on ingredients or recipes that come from somewhere unique and have great storytelling potential,” said Aron, a first generation Sicilian-Jewish American who grew up surrounded by food. “It’s very eclectic, customized and local cuisine.”
Through her eight-year-old, Princeton-based personal chef business Autumn Olive Food Works, Aron has re-created meals for anniversary parties that customers once enjoyed at their weddings.Or re-created nostalgic dishes from their childhoods at their holiday parties.
She has made dishes such as autumn lasagna with roasted butternut squash, ricotta, Italian sausage, caramelized onions and Parmesan; orange olive oil cake with dark chocolate drizzle and whipped cream; and chicken and kale meatballs with green tahini sauce.
Serving Hunterdon, Middlesex and Mercer counties, Aron can accommodate an unlimited number of diners for holiday parties for about $45 to $100 per person.
“The restaurant industry didn’t work for me, so I had to create a model that was in line with my values, ethics and interests as a farm-to-table chef,” Aron said. “I was a nanny for many years on the side, and I realized that the families I worked for loved the homestyle dishes that I made.”
Info: autumnolivefoodworks.com
Be My Guest
When John Manzo realized that the “restaurant grind” wasn’t for him and left his position at Woodstack Pizza Kitchen in Pine Brook, he started offering healthy meal prep as a personal chef.
But his now eight-year-old business took a major hit once COVID struck New Jersey — so he decided to offer something new.
“Once restaurants started opening up again after the pandemic, a lot of people still didn’t want to go out, so I started promoting ‘bringing the restaurant experience to you,’ ” he said. “I cooked dinner parties with my mask on so people could have a restaurant experience in their home.”
Be My Guest, based in Metuchen, has continued to offer personal chef services for dinner parties for about $150 to $250 per person. Any number of guests can be accommodated.
He loves cooking American and Italian comfort cuisine, but he can create any menu for his clients. Some of the dishes he has created in the past for holiday parties include roast leg of lamb with lemon and rosemary ricotta; porchetta with fennel pesto; truffle macaroni and cheese; cacio e pepe asparagus; and sausage cornbread stuffing.
“I design the menu around everything that they want,” he said. “I want to know what foods they love, what foods they hate and what allergens they have. I like to stick to basics that people are familiar with, with my own little twists.”
Info: bemyguestpcs.com
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Chef Kwill
Kwame Williams, otherwise known as Chef Kwill, doesn’t just create new holiday food memories — he re-creates old ones.
“One family asked me to cook from handwritten Thanksgiving recipes that their late grandmother used, like minced meat pie,” Williams recalled. “I loved it. They were so grateful and I’m just here making memories.”
Through his Montclair-based personal chef business that travels everywhere, Williams can re-create family dishes or create new menus based on a customer’s wants and needs. He can accommodate any number of guests, and prices are about $85 to $250 per person.
As a first-generation Jamaican-American, Williams enjoys having a Caribbean influence in his food thanks to the flavors from his childhood. He has worked at American, Italian, Asian and other restaurants, too.
Some of the dishes he has made for holiday parties include walnut pie with Guinness whipped cream; jerk quail with wild rice salad and cranberry sorrel chutney; and oxtail ragu with plantain gnocchi.
Before becoming a personal chef, Williams worked at restaurants including the Ryland Inn, Bernards Inn, Rat’s and Pleasantdale Chateau. He also owned Vital in Montclair before it closed in early 2020.
“The benefit of doing private events is you get to see the impact directly on the customer,” he said. “That gratitude, that appreciation of all the time and effort you put into this meal, the person is right there and they’re always very grateful.”
Info: kwamewilliams.com.
Fridge2Table
Growing up, Margo Carner, owner of Fridge2Table, was “the allergy kid,” she said. With a gluten sensitivity, it wasn’t easy for her mother to create meals that were nutritious and flavorful for her daughter. But she never gave up, no matter how long she spent at the stove.
“I credit my love of cooking to my mom because I saw her always busting her butt to figure out things I could eat that looked like what my family was eating,” Carner said. “I think that’s made me more flexible to my clients’ needs.”
Her personal chef and catering business, based in Princeton, serves Hunterdon, Somerset, Mercer, Union and Middlesex counties, among others. Each year, she cooks for about 10 holiday parties, with average costs at about $150 per person. She can accommodate any number of guests.
Some of the dishes she has made for holiday parties include roasted winter squash salad with pomegranate and maple balsamic vinaigrette; roasted carrots with parsley and date gremolata; and honey crisp apple, Brie and onion jam crostini.
This type of personal cooking is what called her to the industry ever since she received her associate’s degree in food and beverage management at Raritan Valley Community College in 2013. While still in college, she worked for several families as a personal chef, and also worked at health cafe Terra Kitchen.
At those jobs, Carner realized the great need that families had for quick, healthy food. While she can make what the client wants, her cooking style has been health-forward American homestyle cooking, with an emphasis on vegetables and locally-sourced and organic ingredients.
“I like the flexibility and that being a personal chef is more client-facing, family-focused and personal,” she said.
Info: instagram.com/fridge2table/.
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Michelle Ciance Private Chef Services
Michelle Ciance’s personal chef business may be based in Nutley, but her inspiration stems from her travels to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands, where farmers markets and fresh eats reign supreme.
“I incorporate vegetables that are in-season in my menus, and I use high-quality ingredients wherever I can find them, as well as grass-fed and locally-raised meats,” she said.
Sustainable and healthy eats, as well as Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines, are Ciance’s focus, although she can create any dish for a holiday party. Prices are about $175 to $200 per person, and she can only accommodate under 30 diners.
Some of her past dishes for holiday parties have included crispy skin duck breast with leeks, farro and parsnip puree; hazelnut bread pudding with coffee gelato and chocolate crumble; and French onion tartine with sourdough, caramelized onions and Gruyere cheese.
Before becoming a personal chef, Ciance worked at acclaimed New Jersey restaurants such as Felina in Ridgewood, A Toute Heure in Cranford, and South + Pine in Morristown. Since graduating from the Institute of Culinary Education in 2011, she said she always wanted to be a personal chef.
“I like the intimate experience of cooking for families one-on-one as opposed to cooking for large groups in a restaurant,” she said.
Info: michelleciance.com.
Contact: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com
Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014, after becoming a blogger-turned-reporter following the creation of her award-winning travel blog. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone.
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