We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Steven Anthony a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Steven thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
What if you wanted to celebrate one of the most unique and special moments of your life? Once-in-a-lifetime events like getting married, turning 40 or having loved ones around that you haven’t seen in a very long time. What if you wanted to truly be present and enjoy the moment with them, without worrying about feeding everyone? Let us be real for a second, everyone has to eat! This is where I step in. I curate lavish moments around the table for exactly these types of events. My focus is for you to celebrate and enjoy the time around people who matter to you while having a hassle-free taste of luxury. But what makes my food different than other private chefs in the area? For starters, I work exclusively with local growers and producers in the area to showcase the innate beauty of local agriculture. Local has a story much like the dishes I craft. Not only are the dishes more fresh and flavorful, but they also have more depth as I dive into what makes the nearby area unique. My work has taken me across various states where I seek out local producers and transform their bounty into various small plates designed for any event. Whether you’re losing your breath in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, nestled in the Gulf of Texas, or enjoying the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, my menus are inspired by local landscapes that are Borderless by Design.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hello there! My name is Steven Anthony, and I am a luxury private chef. I got into this field 18 years ago simply looking for a job. I had a partner at the time who mentioned I should look at restaurants and decided to dive into the cooking scene. As the years went on, my skills sharpened as I learned how to chop faster, taste deeper, and explore more of this particular craft. Each kitchen was a stepping stone, as I sought out higher esteemed kitchens before making my way into the pantheon of the Michelin and top 50 caliber restaurants. About 4 years ago I was at a crossroads – Where do I take my international training and skillset? I knew the endgame for a chef was to have a place to call their own, but I didn’t know what that would look like. It was during this time that the idea of starting my own private chef business began to take root. From the beginning my food philosophy was simple. Find what makes the area around me unique, and highlight the bounty from within. I sought after purveyors, producers, and growers who represented local, sustainable, and regenerative practices. I reached out to these diverse groups and began building a network for my ingredients. Now, years later, I have access to amazing produce chalked full of beautiful stories from beautiful people. I design tasting menus in the comfort of your home or rental to provide a unique food experience. Whether you are enjoying a retreat, celebrating a special moment, or looking to enjoy a luxurious meal in the company of loved ones, these menus are full of delicious bites, sustainable agriculture, and lovely stories. My cuisine shines a light on what is grown nearby while being served as a tasting menu. The question though, is why a tasting menu? This type of menu gives me creative control and promotes a variety of textures, flavor combinations, and dishes. Each plate is designed to elicit a taste of the local scene woven with my Puerto Rican heritage and global training. My guests love having a varied menu full of diverse tastes and always find it difficult to declare which dish was their favorite. I stay in awe and feel ecstatic knowing I am privileged to break bread with others around once-in-a-lifetime moments.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
A partner from a past chapter of my life invited me out to Southern Thailand many moons ago. The initial trip was to explore the southern islands, and at this time, I also wanted to enjoy the metropolis of Bangkok. We ended up doing a small excursion to the capital and I met a now very famous chef running a seasonally driven, locally inspired Thai restaurant. We enjoyed his tasting menu and at the end of the meal, I spoke directly with the chef. He was inquiring about our experience in his restaurant and our thoughts on his cuisine. A long story short, I was invited to work with him a few months later. I journeyed to his kitchen on the other side of the world with no understanding of the local language, cuisine, or city. I was completely alone and had to figure everything out. How do I avoid getting hustled on a day-to-day basis? How can I be respectful of a culture I know nothing of? How do I finance this entire affair? Each day was a learning curve on how to grow, not only in the kitchen and my career but also in life as an alien in a foreign place. It was beautiful. It was difficult. It was freeing, but it was one of the most rewarding accomplishments I’ve ever experienced.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
What inspires creativity? What drives you to spawn something new? To me, it’s this quest to be the best version of myself. I’m not comparing myself to no one, and to nothing. It is only me “in the ring” to see what I am capable of. Sure, I’m inspired by a variety of things – a trot through the forest, a beautifully plated dish, an exotic flavor combination, but at the end of the day, I weave all of these intricate details into an edible package. I take cues from the natural world, training from across the globe, and twist these phenomena through a food lens. My menus are created from every experience I’ve been on before, and what I’m aspiring towards.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chefstevenanthony.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chef.stevenanthony
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chef.stevenrodriguez
Image Credits
More Van Anything Photography