Food Made with Attention
Holistic Chef Services
Private chef and culinary services from Elements bring the same philosophy found in the school to the table: seasonal ingredients, skilled technique, thoughtful sourcing and food designed around the people being fed.
A Different Kind of Private Chef
Good food can do many things at once.
It can be beautiful without being precious. Nourishing without feeling medicinal. Thoughtfully prepared without becoming complicated. It can honor the needs of the people eating it while still creating pleasure, abundance and a sense of occasion.
This is the approach behind Elements Chef Services.
Each menu is created individually, taking into account the season, the gathering, dietary needs and preferences, and what is beautiful and available from Vermont farms and producers.
The result is food meant not simply to be served, but to be experienced together.
The Food
The cooking at Elements is ingredient-led and deeply seasonal.
Menus move freely between culinary traditions, reflecting Jacqueline's years in professional kitchens, her study of Ayurveda and a lifetime of curiosity about how people around the world cook and eat.
You might find a table filled with vegetables blistered over high heat, slowly braised meats, fragrant dals, handmade sauces and chutneys, bitter greens, cultured dairy, warm spices, local cheeses, herbs gathered from the garden or a dessert built around fruit at the height of its season.
There is no fixed Elements menu.
The food begins with what is here, who is coming and what the gathering calls for.
Services
Elements Chef Services brings the philosophy of the school to the table through private dinners, intimate gatherings, retreats and special events throughout Vermont.
Menus begin with the season and the people being fed. Drawing from classical culinary technique, Ayurveda and food traditions from around the world, Jacqueline creates food that is generous, deeply flavorful and grounded in a close relationship with ingredients.
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Seasonal, custom-designed meals prepared for intimate gatherings in your home or chosen setting.
From a long dinner around the table to a milestone celebration, each menu is developed specifically for the people and occasion.
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Thoughtful meals designed to support the rhythm and purpose of a retreat.
Jacqueline's background in both professional cooking and Ayurveda allows menus to consider nourishment, digestion, season and individual needs without sacrificing the pleasure and generosity of truly good food.
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Food for gatherings where the meal is an important part of the experience.
Menus may be served family-style, as abundant shared tables, or in individually composed courses depending on the event.
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Personalized cooking for individuals and families seeking ongoing support in their homes.
Menus can respond to dietary needs, season, constitution and current circumstances while remaining varied, beautiful and pleasurable to eat.
Sample Menu
The Chef
Jacqueline has been a chef for more than 25 years and a practitioner of Ayurveda for a decade, weaving the two together in an approach to food that is at once culinary and healing.
She has worked at the helm of bustling restaurants, traveled the world led first by her taste buds, owned and operated food trucks, and created internationally award-winning cheeses.
Her cooking today draws from that experience alongside the farms, seasons and ingredients of her home in Central Vermont.
Our chef services are also part of the living practice behind Elements Cookery School: the place where the school's ideas about craft, nourishment, season, hospitality and the senses meet an actual table.