We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gigliola Zimmermann . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gigliola below.

Gigliola , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The biggest one has to be when I opened Joyce & Gigi’s kitchen! There was a lot of uncertainty from my end, mainly because I wasn’t sure if Dallas was going to like and welcome a new cuisine, I truly didn’t want to repeat what every well known restaurant was doing; I wanted to do my own thing and explore who I was as a chef. Besides the food aspect, there was the business portion of having a restaurant, and making sure I could balance everything out. God was good to us, and provided us with tools to be able to successfully run a business for the time we had it.

Gigliola , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Following Joyce & Gigi’s topic, that’s where people got to know me, and saw my work, so that was definitely the reason how my private career started, without Joyce & Gigi’s kitchen being part of my background, people would probably have had a hard time trusting me. My private career started very organically, one old client reached out, I posted the experience, people started asking questions, and one private event led to a second, third and so on. I am a local private chef that specializes in private/intimate events such as dinners, cooking classes and collaborations with other chefs/restaurants. Each experience is tailored towards what the client wants and envisions, however, some clients really want to let me innovate and do what I have in mind for them, there is really no right or wrong because each client, dinner and event is uniquely special, my goal is to always do what would make them happy, bring them a very memorable experience, and serve them with the best of my ability. Many clients can see my work through social media – @gigi_zimmermann / Gigliola Zimmermann- or my website – www.chefgigiz.com , and other clients just remember what I had in the restaurant, as well as attending my collaborative dinners.

I consider myself a very detailed driving person, organized, professional, respectful and really communicative when it comes to my work, so if there were any situations that happened to be complicated, with the understanding of both parties we are able to solve it right away, however, since it is an easy process to follow – which I will guide each client towards it – we are able to move forward very smoothly.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

I keep asking myself that questions, and yet I don’t have an answer to. I mainly do this because it makes me really happy to serve my communicate, create for my community and meet part of the people who support chefs. I have the full support of my husband, and more importantly, I really let each opportunity come my way to make sure that’s meant to be, and what God wants for my professional life.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Besides using my work to serve others, the ability to clear my mind and block the none sense while creating a dish has helped me tremendously; cooking is very therapeutic to me, and often I tried to do it alone in the kitchen while I listen to music.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.chefgigiz.com
• Instagram: @gigi_zimmermann
• Facebook: Gigliola Zimmermann

Image Credits
Veronica Matienzo