We were lucky to catch up with Sydney Buck recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sydney, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My most meaningful job I had recently was a private dinner for a client. They essentially told me they loved what I stood for, which is seasonal produce, sustainability and small businesses. They let me run wild with a full plant based menu. I never thrived so hard for a dinner. It was a beautiful evening that we also held at a friends private studio. It was my community supporting me in ways I felt so loved and supported.

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?

I am a private chef and the owner of BuckWildKitchen, residing in Ridgewood, Queens, NY. I was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, surrounded by farms and Amish country, my love for food and cooking was ingrained in me from a young age. After moving to New York City and spending seven years in the beauty industry, I realized that my true passion was in the culinary arts. As a self-taught chef, I honed my culinary skills through various resources, including learning from family members in Alabama and Pennsylvania, cook books and cooking shows, and gaining culinary knowledge from local food vendors in my neighborhood. My resourcefulness in the kitchen is notable, as I make use of every ingredient and lets nothing go to waste. I love to experiment and develop new dishes by mixing different flavor profiles.

As far as clients- I really like to show them how important it is to eat seasonally and sustainable with offering different flavor profiles. I am so proud of myself for what I do now, even though it took me a long time to figure out this was my path. I am looking for clients that are obsessed with fresh produce that is at its peak that are willing to try new dishes they may never have had before.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think people who do not work in the industry do not realize how much work goes into just one service or one dinner. Sometimes it is just me prepping for a private dinner for 15 people and it takes time to menu plan, source ingredients and prep for service. And this all doesn’t include the day of.

Have you ever had to pivot?

My last job before I started my business helped me grow a lot but in the winter business was slow and my position was dissolved. I got let go and I had no clue what I was going to do. I took a month off before I really started menu testing, developing and I started finding private chef clients. I also started booking pop ups on my time off. Having your own business is a lot of hustling but remembering there needs be time to rest. It can be exhausting as you are always doing some kind of work, whether it’s emails, talking to clients or thinking of new menu items. Just make sure to take time for yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.buckwildkitchen.com
• Instagram: buckwildkitchen
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydney-buck-987997a8/

Image Credits
Photos by The lOMI Company NYC Photography by lOMI @photographybylomi (all social media plat) Www.thelomicompany.com