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Benjamin Randall

Personal Chef

Chicago, IL

31 years in professional kitchens

An avid professional cook since age 14, Chef Ben has worked in every foodservice venue imaginable, from Mom & Pop Italian to Creole Fine Dining. With experience in butchery, baking and education, Chef Ben can tailor a mealprep, catering or cooking class to your specifications. HIs experience running an all-scratch school foodservice gave him a solid background in allergen and dietary restriction management. Chef Ben cooks daily at home for his wife and two kids, bakes sourdough and roasts his own coffee.

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Professional Background

Graduated the New England Culinary Institute in 2001
Graduated the Interlochen Arts Academy (focus Creative Writing) in 1996
31 years in professional kitchens
ServSafe Certified, including Allergen Management

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Travels up to 25 miles from Chicago, IL

Fun Facts

Meet Benjamin Randall

Where are you from?
Traverse City, Michigan
What's your favorite restaurant?
The Yellow Rose Cafe on Elston in Chicago. Just a greasy, classic diner. Cash only, bottomless coffee.
What's your favorite thing to cook for yourself?
Popcorn. When nobody's looking I add fresh garlic, parmesan, truffle oil and fresh parsley to my popcorn. Then I don't share.
Why did you want to be a chef?
As the oldest of 4 kids, I was always the one helping my mom cook, I was always in charge of afterschool snack for my siblings. Getting into Hospitality was a natural evolution of this for me. Even though I studied to be a highschool English teacher, restaurants always called me back.
If you're not in the kitchen - what are some of your hobbies & interests?
I still write - that's my second love. I've written two books about the Hospitality Industry (as of yet unpublished; mores the pity), and I am working on a third book. The third one's more fun; it's a murder mystery. Of course, it's still set within the world of Hospitality.
Why do you enjoy working for Elite Personal Chefs?
This role strikes the perfect balance between creative freedom and responsiveness to client needs, between business-owning responsibility and support, and between independence and belonging. At the same time that I am completely in charge of my own company (of one employee), I am also part of the larger EPC community of chefs and other hospitality professionals.
What do you love about the Private Chef Lifestyle?
All chefs want to do is take care of people. When you're relying on customers to find you (as in a restaurant setting), that creates an immediate barrier to that caring. However, once you've established a relationship with a client, and you as a chef know their tastes, it's much easier to take care of those people. Feeding people is all about generating those relationships, and this job exemplifies and amplifies the best thing about restaurant work: the regulars. All of my clients are regulars.

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