Start and Grow a Successful Personal Chef Business with Imrun Texeira

Chef Imrun Texeira is the chef and owner of Wanderlust, a personal chef service based in Toronto, Canada focused on blind tasting menus. Whether you currently have a personal chef business, want to start one, or are any type of culinary entrepreneur, this episode is packed with valuable tips on growing a food business.Imrun’s worked in some of the world's best and most influential restaurants, including Noma in Copenhagen. Most recently, he was named as a recipient of the Top 30-Under-30 Award for hospitality leaders in Canada, and as a rising talent in North America by The Art of Plating. He was a semi-finalist on the Food Network’s Top Chef Canada Season 8, and a finalist on the Food Network’s Chopped Canada Season 3. Imrun’s culinary style is often referred to as 'New Canadian Cuisine' as he showcases local produce, foraged ingredients and blends them with flavors and tecniques from around the world.On the show, we talk about positioning your business and how to stand out from your competitors. We discuss pricing your service, staffing considerations, and customer interactions. Also, Imrun is an ambassador for The Burnt Chef Project, so I asked him to explain what that is, which led to a bigger discussion about mental health and the state of mental health services today. And I wanted to talk about how he plans and markets his menus. Imrun offers either five or ten-course blind diners. That means that the customers don’t know what they’ll be dining on before he serves it. I’m not sure I’m ready to try that with my business yet. I have some challenges just getting people to order some of the more interesting items from a selection menu. For those with personal chef businesses, do you do this? Let me know because I’m interested. As always, you can hit me up on Instagram @chefswithoutrestaurants. My DMs are open.IMRUN TEXEIRAImrun's InstagramImrun's WebsiteCHEFS WITHOUT RESTAURANTSIf you enjoy the show and would like to support it financially, please check out our Sponsorship page (we get a commission when you use our links).  Get the Chefs Without Restaurants NewsletterPrivate Facebook groupChefs Without Restaurants InstagramSponsor- The United States Personal Chef AssociationOver the past 30 years, the world of the personal chef has grown in importance to fulfill dining needs. While the pandemic certainly upended the restaurant experience, it allowed personal chefs to close that dining gap.  Central to all of that is the United States Personal Chef Association.  USPCA provides a strategic backbone for those chefs that includes liability insurance, training, communications, certification, and more. It’s a reassurance to consumers that the chef coming into their home is prepared to offer them an experience with their meal.  Call Angela today at 800-995-2138 ext 705 or email her at aprather@uspca.com for membership and partner info.Support the show