We were lucky to catch up with Ehecatl Perez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ehecatl, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
After a long time of working for large hotel chains and dedicating a lot of my life, I decided that it was time to take the risk of starting something that was my own and doing it for my family. Cooking has always been my passion, and I thought about doing it in a more personalized way and complementing it with my studies of sommelier and mixology. So, I decided to become a private chef and provide catering services for small and medium-sized parties.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
As I mentioned before, I have spent most of my life in the food and beverage industry in large hotel and restaurant chains. Where I was able to collaborate with renowned chefs of Mexican cuisine. The valley is a great place and has a lot of gastronomic offers, and we joined as a more intimate alternative. With private chef service for any type of celebration or important date. Even for medium-sized groups of up to 40 people. Offering options from all over the world and with Mexican specialties and Mexican-Japanese, Mexican-Italian, and Mediterranean fusions. Also, wine pairing experiences, avant-garde mixology, and even some personalized cooking classes.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The valley tends to be a great place for vacation, sports and business tourism. So platforms like Take a Chef or Airbnb which I am part of as Top Chef help to generate a very effective link, both platforms are very recognized and have international reach so anyone can contact us and book in advance, and social media helps a lot to link with local residents looking for a unique experience.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
In my career I went through kitchen, bar and service areas, during all that time I tried to build a wide knowledge in order to be successful. Interestingly enough, my passion for cooking led me to become an excellent salesman in service and this created a path for me to grow faster in the service area. And that is how I became a food and beverage manager and general manager in restaurants. Always privileging the quality of the food and the respect for the work of the cooks. Just the pivot in my career is to return to my bases as a cook and chef, as a private chef to continue to show the ability to surprise with the flavors and care of the ingredients. Complemented with experience in service and beverage studies.
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Image Credits
Ehecatl Perez from Flavor Alchemist