Friend That Cooks — Local services in Butler

I contacted this company and inquired about following a specific food plan for a month to see if this was something they could do. They said yes and I asked if I had the groceries here would that be okay because the only grocery store near my home doesn’t offer the quality I needed for this food plan. They also said this was fine because you’re basically paying an hourly rate so whether it’s used for cooking or shopping, it didn’t matter. I scheduled my in home consult and again was told the same thing. I purchased a book of the meal plan for the chef to share in advance to make it easier. I ordered all food and had it here for her when she arrived. Her first day, she spilled Turmeric on my carpet and immediately let me know. She also contacted the company who took a few days and a follow up from the chef, but they did ask if they could attempt to have a cleaner get the stains out. I appreciated that since their Client Policies state “We will assume responsibility for damages due to chef negligence or accidents.” This home is brand new, we had just moved in and the chef was really the first to use our kitchen. Shortly after that, my cleaner sent me pics of the range top to ask what happened because it was scratched up underneath the grates on the stainless steel surface. I contacted Rebecca Nedrow 7/29/22 to advise and sent her pics. Rebecca responded 8/10/22 that she was sending a different chef and he would take pics. She then stated that it just needed polish to buff the marks out. I let her know on 8/14/22 that that didn’t work. 8/16/22 Rebecca responded that this was “normal wear and tear” and that with regular use it’s not reasonable to expect this not to occur. 8/17/22 I responded that this is not by any definition “normal wear and tear”. There is no way scratches occur under grates that sit 2” above the surface. Again a brand new home where any wear and tear argument wouldn’t come into play for any reason on a range that’s a couple months old. 8/29/22 Rebecca then sent out an employee to come look again. I offered to call my appliance company to have them send someone for a professional assessment and opinion. I heard nothing from her until 11/2/22 (approx 3 months after reported). She determined the marks are purely cosmetic and basically that’s it.

*This company doesn’t stand by their policies. Why would they not get a professional opinion of the damage and cost to remedy?

*Their website states No Risk. Ever. Absolutely not true, there was a risk and now cost to me to have fixed an appliance that was brand new.

*During this whole ordeal, they dropped me saying they didn’t have a chef to service our area. They substitute chef they sent told me himself that he worked at a house a block over and asked me to request him. My previous chef quit the company.

*I had also provided them a client that was less than 15 mins from me that hired them for the same food plan I was following.

*I was also now told that their chefs would have to do the shopping because they can choose better quality. This was not what I was told at my initial inquiry or my first meeting. Also makes no sense because where I was ordering food provides much higher quality that our local...

This is an update explains that my Friends That Cooks has done for me lately.

This review covers what my Friend That Cooks, Chef Sarah Glenn, did for me for the week starting Thursday, February 27, 2020. I had a lot of terrific food in Kauai and in Oahu over the past three weeks or so. I had a great time as well. But it certainly is great to get back and to again enjoy the absolutely amazing (which is a standard deviation better than “terrific”) food prepared by Chef Sarah!

“Mess of southern boiled cabbage” with bacon spiced pork chops – Okay, the pork chops are way better than you could imagine. While in Oahu, I stayed at a hotel that included a free Asian breakfast buffet and I particularly liked the boiled cabbage that reminded me of my childhood in Alabama. So, I asked Chef Sarah to fix me up a mess of southern boiled cabbage and, of course, she did. But why dies chef Sarah’s taste better than Oahu and even my childhood memory. Well, the stuff on Oahu was good enough but not a challenge. But the Alabama recipe for boiled cabbage secretly includes a lot of sugar and a lot of butter and maybe some bacon grease, so what I remember is actually not something I would probably like at this point in my life because I now appreciate the superior flavors of healthy cooking. Chef Sarah came up with some incredible cabbage that has just the right hint of butter plus some amazing and unexpected Louisiana spices.

Shrimp and chicken sausage gumbo with jasmine rice – This a repeat of one of my favorites. Somehow, it gets better each time!

Zoodles with spring veggies and spinach pesto and seared chicken – I didn’t see this coming at all. Chef Sarah seems to enjoy doing that to me. Wonderful things can happen when you encourage a gifted artist to exercise creative freedom. This is an excellent example of that!

Turkey, avocado, and cheese sandwiches – My daughter requested this, and they are really great.

Avocado, egg, and turkey bacon wraps – Also mainly for my daughter, another of her...

Alright, here’s the rub on FTC and more specifically he’d Felipe.

I raise cattle for a living and I care deeply for my herd. I try really hard to provide the best life that I can for my animals. It is extremely important to me that my animals are respected for the nutrition they provide myself, my family, and my customers. I like to know that the protein they have provided us with is not wasted but prepared well and enjoyed fully.

I was extremely skeptical when my wife informed me that Chef Felipe would be preparing meals for us and our busy family. I never thought that my life would include or need a personal chef. I didn’t attend the initial consultation and was, admittedly, determined to derail this venture quickly. Chef asked us to leave out some meat for him so I chose a chuck roast from our freezer as a sort of test to see what he would do with it. Would it prepare it the same old way that our mothers and grandmothers would - Just tossed in the oven for hours without much thought or attention?

No.

Chef Felipe took that cut of beef and prepared a red wine braised chuck roast that stopped me in my tracks. I’m extremely proud to have Chef Felipe prepare meals from my animals and whether he knows it or not he honors them with the amazing dishes he serves. Since then it hasn’t let up. We are consistently receiving meals that are either showstopping entrees or depending on our week easy choices for kids to munch on without any arguments. He even names his sauces and dishes after our kids and that little gesture makes them excited to try “their” meal. His attention to little details have made our lives as parents so much easier. The best thing about it is that I don’t believe he is aware he does it. It’s just his genuine personality to do the little things.

Chef Felipe is a valued member of our extended family and I can’t say enough about our...