We recently connected with Krystyna Cibelli-Pettus and have shared our conversation below.
Krystyna, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I would say this all started with my path to culinary school. It was a bit of an atypical journey from college to culinary school, where I quickly learned that I was not the type of aspiring cook that would do well with “coloring in the lines”, which is really just my nice way of saying I like to make my own rules. Although I learned so much in culinary school when it came to cooking, skills, and techniques; I think what I took away more than anything from that experience was knowing what I wanted for myself and my culinary career. Most folks in this industry work in some sort of restaurant or similar establishment, food service, or catering. I tried my hand at as many aspects of the industry as I could in order to find what really fueled the fire, and it was doing things “my way”. I started calling it “Sinatra Style”. Throughout my time in college and culinary school is when I started to explore the many options I had in the field and I always came back to wanting to be a Private Chef. Straight out of culinary school I embarked on an uncomfortable journey of self-promotion and severely faked confidence. The more clients and experience I gained over the years of being a Private Chef, Caterer, restaurant Chef, and eventually a culinary school Professor, the more I realized that not only could I mold these concepts that I love and excel at, into something that is truly my own and unique.
By Chef Cibelli is a multifaceted company that was born of the “Sinatra Style” concept. So multifaceted that not every aspect of the company’s services are offered all of the time. As a private chef company that offers more than just the typical high-end one-time meals, we’re able to be available to folks from all walks of life looking to have a good meal or food experience. The services we provide include, but are never limited to: meal delivery for dinner (individual or family size), kid family-friendly dinner delivery with a hidden veggie option, office lunch catering, weekend brunch delivery, and our Fricken Sammich (fried chicken) has been popping up all over the city and has been gaining quite the following. Our new Pantry is about to launch this Fall on our website (www.chefcibelli.com) and will include the all time favorite make-at-home pizza kits as well as a ton of some of our very popular items bottled up and ready for your home use, so you can do it your way.
We have a small team of amazing folks who love what they do and love bringing that culinary experience to you. We are our own little island of misfit toys who come together to make great food and culinary experiences with no rules. One of our favorite aspects of the company is the monthly UNDGRNDINR (underground dinner) event series. Super secretive, invite-only, themed dinner and tasting events all over the city. That’s where we all really get to play with food. While planning for those events, the team really gets to dip into their creative sides and showcase their skills.
A lot of what By Chef Cibelli really prides itself in, is having accessible food for all and amping up that food experience for you. Whether it be in the way of delivering dinner to you, attending our UNDGRNDINR events, or getting those popular ready-to-use items, like the pizza kit, in the hands of those who want to save some time and still have great cost-effective food on the table.
With the help of friends, family, and those amazing clients throughout the years, I’ve finally been able to go full “Sinatra Style” within the last year and cannot wait to show y’all what we have in store for you.
Krystyna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I was always one of those kids who loved to be in the kitchen with Mom and Grandma, but if you would have asked me if I had ever considered it as a career path that so fully encompasses my life, the answer is definitely not. Looking back on it, I’m not even really sure I knew what a chef was or who was actually making food behind those swinging doors at the local diner. There was always a whole huge list of “things I wanted to be when I grow up” that I had a memorized running account of. Ready at any moment to let my favorite aunt or uncle know what I wanted to be and why, but also the why’s for a few other career paths because one was just not enough for my little curious creative self with a very busy mind, but never cooking,
My draw to food and cooking grew slowly inside of me as a way to take my mind off of working full time and going to college full time. It grew to the point where I was maybe missing one or two classes here and there to play with food and ingredients. Being a broke college student, I would teach myself how to find similar ingredients to items that were maybe more expensive or unavailable in the area. I found myself experimenting and practicing and teaching myself things that I didn’t even have the proper terminology for just yet.
I went to Toronto to go to a concert and decided I was going to go to one fancy meal. I sat down at an Italian restaurant in the city, where the Downton Abbey-looking gentleman who was my server, placed a napkin on my lap and brushed the table with what could only be described (at the time) as a table comb for crumbs. This. This was a new world. I ordered the lobster ravioli with a roasted red pepper — “what’s this word sir?”, “coulis”. As I paused and thought to myself, “coolie, that means something different where I’m from”, suddenly “I’ll take it!” was coming out of my mouth.
After my trip, I went back home and decided I needed to figure out how to spell that sauce word again so I can figure out how to make it. I practiced many times, paving my way with each attempt and noting the changes I felt I needed to make. After quite a few attempts and putting all of the practice runs on anything and everything I was eating for a couple of weeks, I invited some friends over to recreate that meal I had in Toronto. It went well, and as the semester went on I found myself buying magazines such as Food & Wine and trying to recreate some of those, with adjustments as well. I realized that as time went on, I paid less and less attention to the written process and more and more to my senses. Utilizing something such as my hearing to teach myself what different stages of boiling or reducing sounded like, so that no matter how much or how little of a recipe I have or know, I will always be able to just cook and fine tune it along the way.
My “aha moment”, where I really felt like I was finding my groove with where I wanted to take my career path, was when I made that sauce for my Grandparents. I had gone to visit them and told them I wanted to make dinner for them one of the nights. Of course my Grandmother says, “okay but don’t make a mess in my kitchen!” Who knew that very first time of prepping and transporting an entire dinner to finish off elsewhere would be such a large part of my life. I promised to not make a mess and showed up with just a couple of small easy tasks to get dinner done and on the table. They sat down, I served them, we dove in. Next thing I know my Grandma is getting up from the table and walking to the kitchen to get the pint container I brought the roasted red pepper coulis in. She sits back down and pours more on her plate of lobster ravioli. I thought to myself that dinner must be going okay, she hasn’t said much. As she’s finishing her dinner she picks up the pint container with the small bit of remaining sauce, looks at me, and says “WOW! I could drink this sh*t!”, then unexpectedly proceeds to throw back this pint container of sauce, like its a Friday night at the bar of my favorite college town. My Grandfather and I just looked at each other and started laughing hysterically. It was so very not like her, next thing you know she’s then wiping the inside of the container with her index finger and we’re all hysterically laughing now.
She told me “you might be adopted with how much you love to cook, but you’re definitely doing the right thing!” That was a pivotal moment for me, I really felt I was going in the right direction. Working for yourself and forging your own path is one of the hardest things you could do career wise, as I’m sure many of you can attest to. If I was going to do something on my own, I was going to do it my way, and how I would want to be treated and charged if I was the client.
The other aspect of running a business is having great help, which is often hard to find and keep in an industry that is unkind to anyone who wasn’t a white male. I had a rough go of it working at certain places within the industry, and what I also observed was how others were treated overall, especially people of color and folks that identify within the LGBTQ+ community. I don’t care how well or fast you are able to get something done if you’re a toxic asshat. Those are not my kind of people and that is what I do not allow in my kitchens. My kitchen is a place of creative, passionate, hard working, learning environment. Often times Chef’s do not help to hone already existing skills and teach new or alternate ways of doing things. If we aren’t all learning together every day, even just one thing, then I’m not really doing my job as a leader very well.
When you are having some By Chef Cibelli dishes, whether it be a meal delivery, private event, or pizza kit — you know that creative folks with a passion for learning and creating had a hand in every step of that food. Those behind the scene inhabitants of the land of misfit toys come together to provide that multifaceted company that isn’t a one trick pony.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I would say, by far, the most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been to run my business as if I was my own customer. There are no unknown fees or surprises when it comes to charges. I do my best to keep costs as low as possible and utilize my resources as best as I can. I also try to make sure that all clients or potential clients have the opportunity and space to ask anything they need to better understand any questions they may have. I think it’s always important to treat people how you want to be treated, and that extends so much further than words.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I’d say there are quite a few things many of us in the culinary industry could stand to unlearn, especially when it comes to the treatment of others in the workplace, but most of all I had to force myself to unlearn that I do not need to be working 24/7. Taking a break from tasks or work to avoid burnout, but most of all taking that time for yourself and your family. Coming from New York, where the hustle is real and mostly necessary, but the pandemic and moving to the South really helped move me along in the pursuit of a better work-life balance. It has helped me become a better Chef, better wife, better friend, better everything. Who sold us these lies of killing yourself for a job and never having a moment to breathe or enjoy this gift of life. What a difference a clear mind and relaxed, calm soul will make. Who knew?!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chefcibelli.com
- Instagram: @chefcibelli
- Facebook: Chef Krystyna Cibelli
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystyna-cibelli-pettus/
- Other: tick tock: @chefkcibelli
Image Credits
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