I got my current job by word of mouth. My first private chef job after leaving the French Laundry was through an agency. Since then it has been word of mouth. At the French Luandry chef de partie (french for line cook); there is one for every station along with a commis (prep cook) as well. I feel very fortunate to have had that experience and learned so much.
AC: What do you like most about your job?
Mroueh: Not being limited to food costs or a budget. These families want the best and it’s my job to seek that out. I’ve been lucky with this family because I can go all out with dinner parties, but other jobs were limited with dietary restrictions. I like a good challenge and I have been successful at being creative with what I have to work with. For example, a former employer of mine could not have dairy or raw vegetables and I still managed to make things taste good. My current employers eat healthy on a regular basis and the kids eat kid food ... but at a dinner party, I can go all out.
AC: What have been your favorite things to make?
Mroueh: My favorite things to make are pastas, little canapés for cocktail parties ... anything but dessert! I like being creative with dinner parties, but I have become somewhat stuck in doing theme parties. It’s kind of fun, but getting more difficult as they have come to expect them for random things like Board of Directors dinners for colleges. My boss attended a school where beer pong was popular, so one of the courses was a paddle made of shortbread with a ball of ginger ice cream that you plopped into a shot of Sierra Nevada beer. They also threw a baby shower where we served a multi-course baby theme. The soup was served in baby food jars and the meal ended with dessert as a play on a dirty diaper. We made a chocolate soufflé with a napkin around the ramekin (and a safety pin) as the diaper. Then little bottles of crème anglaise with Desitin labels on them and we dusted the soufflé with powdered sugar that we put in Johnson & Johnson baby powder bottles. Then we played on the nursery rhymes for the main course.
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