We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Max Mentzer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Max thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Quality control is a challenge almost every entrepreneur has had to focus on when growing – any advice, stories or insight around how to best ensure quality is maintained as your business scales?
Quality control in private chef events is imperative! I don’t think a lot of people understand why we charge the way we do and what actually goes on behind that. People are bringing in a chef and literally a restaurant into their home to experience a luxury service you can’t get in restaurants.
So, quality begins at the start of the connection. Be personable yet professional. Show off the personality and the flare. You’re getting hired for however you pitched your services or how you made them feel. So, don’t hold back on those achievements or accolades you may have earned in the past. Be prompt, but not too pushy. Addressing things in a timely manner, whether that be responding to messages, emails, or calls, sending the menu in the time frame you set, or showing up when stated, are all important and good indicators of professionalism and quality.
Time management is crucial in these. You can really forget how long plating an intricate dish for 10 people by yourself can honestly take. Be real with yourself. Can you only manage 6 to 8 people on your own and if you take on more people are you able to provide a second set of hands like a server or another chef? Are you able to charge appropriately for those people too? I thought flat rates were normal for extra hands (sometimes it is) however quickly realized for larger events hourly rates, splitting the gratuity, and other accommodations are easier on people’s pockets both you, the employees, and the clients. The amount of time between dishes makes the flow of the evening feel great.
When I first started the events or private dinners, I jumped in head first with zero concern. I used to use the client’s own plates until I could afford my own set. Their own flatware, as well, which is so expensive. I never had contracts and relied solely on the word of the people until I could afford to either do my own or hire an attorney. Being legally sound is important but takes time and resources. I had a ton of business coming my way and didn’t even have an LLC launched until I was like I need to be legit. I got my LLC, contracts written, w-9, 1099, bookkeeper, CPA, attorney, sales tax, and converted the LLC to an s-corp. I made sure to be legally sound in food safety which means obtaining a food manager’s license and business insurance which is needed for event spaces or larger settings and honestly you should have this, to begin with. Back-end systems for the business and financial side of things are crucial in quality control and make your impact on the food greater.
You need to be extremely honest with yourself and know where your growing pains and strengths are so you can improve those areas or delegate them to others. Are you a home cook looking to put a smile on someone’s face or an incredible chef pushing boundaries? Do you like creating menus or want someone else doing it? Do you need an extra set of hands to ensure everything is smooth and done in a timely manner? Are you shopping at cheap grocery stores or are you sourcing from local purveyors or hard-to-find products? What is your niche? For me, I choose the small plate, farm-to-table, creative, chef-inspirational food that has the option to pair with wine and cocktails, along with other additions not listed and multiple coursed-out meals. Those differences will vary in quality, time, and expenses and improve while you’re growing!
Max, 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?
When I first set foot in the culinary world, I was previously professional heavy metal and jazz drummer touring the nation. However, one night after packing up my gear I slipped on an icy step and scrapped my hand on a rusty iron fence. I didn’t overthink it, but then woke up the following day with tetanus. I was in excruciating pain could barely move my arms, and was swollen and stiff throughout my entire arms. I could barely move my fingers. I just popped some pain meds to ease it off and almost quite literally walked it off had I not gone to a new physician who suggested I get the booster and it cured my symptoms but left me with some complications in my right hand. This slowed my progress down in music making it difficult to maintain my craft and business. so, I decided to drop what I was doing, come to Austin, and start culinary school! After graduating, I went back to Colorado and worked at the Broadmoor and Garden of the God’s Resort. Then I came back to Austin and worked at Barley Swine and helped open Red Ash, where I was a chef for 3.5 years before covid. I had a pretty significant following in the keto community during my time at Red Ash and decided to venture into meal prep and my own business Keto Chef Max LLC. I use keto for the clients looking for it and also for myself. I’ve had type 1 diabetes my entire life so finding keto and using it for therapeutic purposes has drastically improved my health! I still offer keto, however, I don’t pigeonhole myself into one specific niche as my career has allowed me to be creative as a Chef!
I now do private events, dinners, passed apps or h’ors d’ourves, catering, meal prep, wedding rehearsals, bachelor, and bachelorette parties, cooking classes, recipe development, cookbook recipes and design, menu design and so much more. Basically, if it involves food, I probably have a foot in it. In the short time of 5 months in which I’ve begun private events, it has drastically taken off. I have a massive networking circle, I run 1-3 events almost every week, I’m also a knife for hire for The Austin Artisan, Eversoul Culinary, and recently Gather and Forge! I helped Dan Castro with a Jollibee-inspired popup, which is taking on a life of its own and we are going to be doing a Kamayan-style event on 9/11 and 9/18. I’ve been in multiple magazines since starting and cooked for some incredibly well-known individuals.
The last 8 months have been incredibly fulfilling for me. It started a little bit tragic as I was going through a toxic relationship. The person broke it off after I told them I thought I had ADHD. They told me that ADHD doesn’t exist and I couldn’t use it as an excuse until getting diagnosed. Well, I sought out getting diagnosed and on medication after being diagnosed with combined ADHD. My mind was literally blown after the first pill! I never thought I would be doing what I am now if it wasn’t for me getting the help I needed and expanding and networking within some amazing communities and people. I knew I always had it in me to do something big but couldn’t put my mind to it until now! Late diagnosis has led to some incredible friends, business opportunities, and communities!
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I have had multiple pivots throughout my career from the professional drummer to now chef or wanting to own it be a chef at a restaurant to owning a business dedicated to keto meal prep and the latest one actually had to do with the private events popping up more often. I had 4 clients prior to May of this year and 3 of them are pretty well off and have houses in other states. So, they all dipped when it started getting too hot in Austin until it cooled off. This is where I was like oh dang pivot to events, reframe the business to a luxury private event service, and get yo money! It worked.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Not everyone in the kitchen wants what is best for you. I’m sure plenty of people can relate to this one. I now know thanks to meds where I excel in the kitchen. I’m creative at heart and need multiple stimuli to keep me from the mundane and boring. Give me something new and exciting and you’ll get back a great performance. I say this because the environment at my last job was disgusting. No cross-training. You stayed at one position for months or years. The chef there was abusive and I had no idea what was happening. If he doesn’t like someone he apparently blacklists you. I had former coworkers literally tell me that I needed to get out before something happened if they were about to quit or be fired. They overheard things on plots. I felt genuinely afraid to go to work. The same thing was with his sous chefs. I’d ask for my needs to be met and be turned down. He’d come in one-day saying how talented I was and the next telling me I’m not that good. I’d walk into work with them having full-blown open conversations about me and telling the waitstaff. They’d cut my hours in sneaky ways where they would word things in a manner that didn’t make sense or you could easily convey something in a different manner. The pay is so low it should come with a warning that you will probably be making below poverty levels of income. Why stay at a place like that? I was afraid of the unknown. I had to learn again that not all culinary environments are like that and I could make a living doing what I enjoy!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ketochefmax.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ketochefmax/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ketochefmax
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-mentzer-a0b6471aa/
- Other: TikTok: @ketochefmax
Image Credits
Profile Pic is ATX Spark of Color Photography