2 Classic Chefs Follow My "Rules", and Give me a Food Tasting from Heaven!!

I had a wonderful surprise today. And I love surprises. It was also a great lesson for me to remember never to make assumptions about anyone. Don’t we all have to fight against ingrained judgments we have?

I’ll admit it- I might have some judgments about the classic “chefy” chef that works in a high end establishment, has perhaps won some prestigious culinary awards, is used to making exactly their kind of food, and might be just a tad bit of a food snob! In the past year alone, I have had so many experiences with “chefy” chefs on all the film press tours I’ve been on, whose kitchens I had to use to make food for my clients. Let’s just say it wasn’t always a happy, joyous sharing experience! Sometimes the “chefy” chefs like to turn their nose up at food that isn’t like theirs!

But alas, God decided to give me a little bit of a happy curveball today. We are in the midst of planning the very exciting launch party of The Beauty Detox Solution! Today was the tasting for the event, which I was uncharacteristically uneasy about. The venue staff, my team, the chef and I had had a call earlier, and it was a bit, um awkward? Even though my program is totally applicable to everyone, as it includes 3 eating phases to choose from- meateater and vegan alike- I had to lay the laws down for the party food, which are to have the guests really experience my kind of food. I mean, my book is a nutrition and prescriptive health and beauty book after all!

Executive chefs are not used to getting “rules.” And my “rules” might have seemed a bit overwhelming for him… especially considering that he had to follow some of my recipes from The Beauty Detox Solution! Here were some of the “rules” he had to play by: local, organic, completely vegan, gluten-free, 100% soy free, no agave, fresh, light, but yet have some denseness to some of the dishes so people don’t get hungry, no fruit in any of the desserts, and oh yeah- don’t use too much salt! Ha! Just a few, right? :)

Well the chef came in (mind you 20 minutes late for the tasting, which was getting me a bit worried he was going to be really “chefy” on me!), sans any pretentiousness or attitude, and had an amazing presentation of goodies for me! He had really thought about what we talked about, and everything he made was with such loving care, it was a total A+. We talked through expanding some of the dishes into the set food stations and keeping some into appetizers that would be walked around the party. It was so fun, and sooooo delicious! Tons of beautiful fresh raw vegetables, 2 raw appetizers, and some quinoa and other cooked dishes.

Then the pastry chef came in, and besides making some of my raw desserts, he came up with some gluten-free, vegan cookies and treats, which were absolutely delicious! He admitted when given my “rules” for dessert, that he had to really think about it! He said he had never baked gluten-free and vegan before. I mean, I took away the classic pastry chef’s eggs and butter and milk! But he lacked no “chefy”ness either, and both chefs were just beaming by the time we finished the tasting. I am going to mention them in some LA food reviews I am working on right now. I love them!

I am going to take great food pictures the night of the party to share with you! I’m sure the spread will be beautiful, and I am soooo relieved it turned out to be an amazing experience, classic chefs and me together thrown into the mix. :)

There are many good desserts you can make at home, so get creative!

I hope you are having a great week!

I send my love, Kimberly