I first met Neda Mroueh during our junior year study abroad program in Rome when she was working on a cookbook filled with her family’s Lebanese recipes. She went on to the Culinary Institute of America in New York, then moved to California to work at the French Laundry, one of Napa Valley’s finest restaurants. She has since become the chef to some of Silicon Valley’s highest profile CEOs. She currently works for one family at their home.
AC: What is your typical day like?
Mroueh: I leave the house around 8 a.m. and start shopping. Shopping is one of the biggest challenges to being a private chef because you have to seek out everything you need. It’s not like at a restaurant, where everything is delivered to you.
I try to make it easier on myself by establishing a relationship with one store like Calmart (which also has a separate butcher, Antonelli’s, as well) and supplement that with farmers markets.
I have two kitchens to deal with, one nice catering kitchen downstairs, where I do my prep and then a family kitchen upstairs. I keep that well-stocked because there are two older high school kids [in the family] and a couple of times a week, they bring friends home for lunch, so I’ll have up to ten teenagers. I try to be prepared.
During the day, I could have any surprise. We might deliver muffins to a neighbor. You’re like a restaurant, but generally, I’m hired to do dinners, but of course, if they need lunch or anything else, then I provide that as well.
I usually leave at 8 or 9 p.m., but if they are having a dinner party, it could be midnight.
AC: How did you get where you are?
Mroueh: I’ve been cooking since age four with my grandmother. Being the oldest daughter of a very ethnic Lebanese family, that’s what you do. My family did have a catering business; I was discouraged to do this for a living, and my mom wanted me to have that four-year degree. After she passed away, I ended up going to the CIA in New York, and so here I am.
