Life of Riley Personal Chef Service
Chef Stephanie Riley has been a personal chef in the Washington DC metro area since 2005. Her very first client had an 8-year old son with allergies to gluten, dairy, soy, and egg and the mother was a vegetarian. This was a foreshadowing of the types of diets Stephanie would work with in the coming years. And the initial challenge became a great advantage for her in building a business geared toward assisting so many of her clients with special diets to eat normal foods that didn’t taste restrictive.
As well as special-diet cooking, Stephanie has a focus on providing her clients with the freshest local and/or organic foods possible. She loves to cook using whole foods, avoiding highly processed foods when possible, and finds that the extra care and love she puts into cooking from scratch comes through in the end result. She finds satisfaction in being able to tell her clients that the food they are raving over is also healthy.
Stephanie began her culinary career by attending culinary school at Stratford University in Falls Church, VA, where she was a member of the Culinary Honor Society. While she participated in the culinary program there, worked as a line cook at The Brass Cannon restaurant at Stonewall Golf Club in Gainesville, VA, under Executive Chef Richard Beckel.
In 2009, Stephanie had the great privilege of being a member of the culinary staff on Chef Emeril Lagasse’s TV show, Emeril Green. On Emeril Green, she prepared many of the foods used on the show, helped develop recipes, and worked as a food stylist.
This year, Stephanie has found joy in balancing her personal chef career with her time working at The Butcher’s Block by Chef Robert Wiedmaier, a European-style market which offers meat cuts from local farms, house-made sausages and pates, cheeses, specialty foods, and a unique selection of wine. She continues to expand her culinary horizons and takes what she learns from each new opportunity and applies it to her personal chef business.
“My clients love when I take on new outside jobs, because they know they will reap the benefits of the inspiration I get from working with other chefs.”
Stephanie looks forward to more growth and challenges in the coming years.
