The first hint of fall is peeking through the dwindling intensity of this summer. The light is softer, the evenings are cooler, and there’s a palpable shift in energy. This shift in season holds space for feeling, reflecting, and what my dear friend calls the “sacred pause.” My sacred pause is coming in a few weeks. In the meantime, I’m between retreats and work is as full as it’s ever been (at least since I began my journey as a private chef).
When I began my business a year ago, I had no idea what it wanted to be. Originally, I thought I would be a private chef who offered different meals each week and people could place orders accordingly. Slowly, I pivoted away from that idea and towards private dining experiences. While I love private dining experiences, I’m slowly gaining clarity around the deeper purpose and philosophy of “Adventure through Food.”
This past weekend, I had the honor of cooking for fifty women over three days at a “Wild Women’s Heart Retreat.” It was my first time retreat cheffing for fifty bodies, and it was a powerful experience in which I had the opportunity to articulate what “Adventure through Food” represents.
Adventure through Food is about connection. It’s about coming back into right relationship with our bodies; relationship that’s guided by intuition and trust, not what the media dictates as the latest health fad. It’s about cultivating reverence for the plant and animal beings that nourish our bodies, and coming home to our place within earth community (instead of thinking we’re at its center).
At this time, I primarily offer private dining experiences and retreat chef services. I’ve been blessed to cook at three retreats over the past six months (with a fourth retreat coming next week!). Through the different environments I’ve encountered as a high-end private chef and intentional retreat chef, I’ve had the good fortune to witness the evolutions of my philosophy and offerings. And as the shift in seasons dances in the evening light, I’m softening into the understanding that another evolution is emerging.
Right now, the emergence looks like a new offering: holistic health guide. Although that’s the physical form the emergence is taking, this offering has roots in a rich soil that will grow and nourish beyond a business framework. Clarity is emerging slowly… and without attachment to final form.
It is a gift to steep in the uncertainty. I’m not sure what will move through in the coming months, but here’s a few things I do know: I feel in awe every time I place a plate of food in front of a client. I am grateful for each retreat participant who tells me how much they feel nourished by my food. It’s an honor to support the embodied experience of participants on retreats, and no matter whether I’m cooking in California or Sedona or New Mexico, it is an honor to honor the lands.