Cooking with Chef Nance!
Nance Tourigny formally opened the doors of her new business, Cooking with Chef Nance! on Monday. Her goal with the new business is to share her knowledge of cooking in a fun and unpretentious way by teaching cooking classes in the comfort of your home. And to kick things off, she’s offering a summer special: if you host a class before the end of Labor Day weekend, you’ll get a 10 percent discount. I interviewed her earlier this week to find out more about her and her service.
Q: How’d you learn to cook?
I’ve been interested in cooking for many years since my father had me as his helper in the kitchen for breakfasts. When I got a little older I just took the initiative to try recipes and experiment. I have two cousins who like to cook too, so when we were around 10 or 12 years old we would come up with all sorts of concoctions. I like to entertain friends and family and I enjoy the happiness that good food and good times bring. After pondering what I wanted to study in college and deciding that engineering was not for me I embarked upon a culinary school adventure and attended Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island.
Q: Tell me the highlights of your cooking/teaching experiences so far.
There are so many! I loved school. The practical skills you learn are good but you really hone these when you get out of school and are working. I was fascinated with all of the other information I learned about such as food origins and history and well as the people who made it what it is today. China Moon Café in San Francisco probably was the most important experience I had where I really learned about taste, consistency, fine knife skills and of course working with 70,000 btu woks! I also had my first teaching experience there when I was made sous chef and had to hire and train staff. I had an aquaintence who really wanted to learn to cook but had no experience. She was naturally talented so I hired her and showed her the ropes. I felf like I had helped someone launch their career. It’s always important to give someone a chance once in a while.
Q: Tell me about Chef Nance. And what led you to create your own business?
Well the name still cracks me up. When I was working for Craig McCaw one of his assistants started calling me Chef Nance and to this day it has stuck. I tried to think of another name but kept coming back to Chef Nance!
I created my own business for a couple of reasons. I love to share my knowledge of food and cooking with others. It’s so much fun and satisfying when someone can come away with a new cooking secret, skill or bit of information that makes cooking more enjoyable for them. So many people watch food tv and fantasize about being able to cook really well. To be honest most people can cook better than some of the tv “Chefs” can.
Q: What services are you offering as Chef Nance, and what sets your business apart from other personal chefs?
Cooking with Chef Nance! provides personalized cooking classes in the comfort of your own home. It can be party-like or a more serious class atmosphere, either way it will be fun, entertaining and informative. Classes are demonstration or hands-on and cover many different topics. My website shows a sample of a few of the classes offered. You can make up your own class by picking out a topic of interest and I will create a class around it!
Another service is kitchen planning and layout. If you’re considering a new kitchen build out, I can give you important tips from a professional chef’s point of view. So many kitchens look pretty but are very difficult to work in. Even architects don’t always plan for optimal performance.
I also offer Gracious Entertaining Assistance which helps you to organize and throw your own party.
Another very important service that provide is consultation for nutritional cooking challenges. If you a diagnosed with a food allergy or sensitivity and are at your wits end trying new foods and recipes I can help. I will provide customized recipes for you that are beautiful and delicious so you can stay within your nutritional guidelines and not get bored. I may be able to help with information on new products you may not have considered.
Q: Has Biznik been a useful tool for you in getting your business launched?
Yes. Biznik hooked me up with a web designer that helped me to get my website launched. I also attended a talk that helped me to overcome some hesitations I had.
Q: Who designed your website, and was that a good experience?
Kelly Davis, and yes, it was a good experience. Kelly had lots of great suggestions and creativity, and worked with me graciously along the way.
Nance’s website is www.chefnance.com