"Let's face it: if you and I have the same capabilities, the same energy, the same staff, if the only thing that's different between you and me is the products we can get, and I can get a better product than you, I'm going to be a better chef."

– Thomas Keller

Shop with the Chef Overview

A Posto Personal Chef Services LLC offers Shop with the Chef Services tailored to individuals who wish to enhance their grocery shopping skills for purchasing healthy, whole foods from the various local food retailers, fish markets, and farmers’ markets operating here on the Oregon Coast. This service is similar to our One-on-One Instruction Service but with the chef instruction occurring out in the field with one of our personal chefs present. The goal is to share our shopping experiences of 'buying local' within the community, plus our chefs can share cooking suggestions and other useful tips in support of preparing delicious home cooked meals. Also, this service is helpful to anyone new to the area; we can help reduce the time it takes to learn where the stores are and what products they carry.

Our Shop with the Chef Services show you how to shop the local stores and fish markets to purchase the food items that provide good nutrition for supporting a healthy lifestyle. This program delivers culinary training based on your schedule and allows for developing a personal relationship with our company’s chefs who reside here on the Oregon Coast. You receive the benefit of becoming a more informed shopper helping you maximize the purchasing power of your food budget, and ensuring that you are buying the best quality, whole foods as a home chef.

With the seasonal aspects of our local ingredients, you can elect to use this service on a more regular basis. We can share our knowledge of what’s in season and how you can take advantage of these foods while they are at their peak in flavor. In addition, we can work with you to integrate seasonal foods into your future menu plans using the chef's suggestions of recipes selected from our culinary library. Furthermore, you could combine this service to coincide with our In-Home Personal Chef or Cooking Class Service: we develop the shopping list for your custom menu plan or class, we shop together, and then we prepare the fresh or frozen food items in your kitchen.

For planning a holiday party or a private celebration we can assist you in preparing a shopping plan with written checklists for organizing and purchasing the various food items needed for the event. These checklists identify the best shopping resources for locating high quality fruits and vegetables, natural meats, locally harvested seafood and shellfish, and the coastal specialty stores selling gourmet products to add that special accent to any dish. Also, we can introduce you to local wine shop purveyors who can use their knowledge to pair your menu with great wines. Having the support of a personal chef can provide you with the confidence to shop smartly to make your special event a tremendous success.

This service is ideal also for people requiring special food in support of a diet for a medical condition or personal health improvement. Our personalized service can focus on buying and preparing healthy foods that compliment the requirements of a special diet and still can be enjoyed by the entire family. In addition, we can show you where to find the grocery stores that carry ethnic food products if you are interested in learning more about ethnic foods.

Benefits and Pricing

Shop with the Chef: We shop our assorted Oregon Coast grocery stores, fish markets, specialty food retailers and farmers’ markets supporting the practice of 'buy local'. You can hire our personal chefs to arrange a grocery shopping tour to learn our secrets on how to choose the freshest and best foods, as well as how to stay away from anything that has things you can’t pronounce in the ingredients.

For the Newport Area, we can prepare an outing visiting such grocery stores like Oceana Natural Foods Co-op, Mai’s Asian Market, the Newport farmers’ market, as well as the big retailers. For Newport based fish markets, we can visit such store locations as Local Ocean Seafoods, the Lighthouse Deli and Fish Company, Ocean Bleu at Gino’s, the Fish Peddler’s Market, and even take you down to the Bayfront dock areas where local fishermen sell whole fish and Dungeness crab directly from their boats.

In Lincoln City, we can arrange a tour visiting such food resources as the Barking Dog Farm, Trillium Natural Foods Organic Grocery, the Java Depot and Culinary Corner, the Lincoln City farmers’ market, Barnacle Bill’s Seafood Market or the big retailers.

You are a perfect fit for our Shop with the Chef Service if you:

want to learn to read and better understand labels
are a new resident to the Oregon Coast and want to learn where to shop
want to learn where to shop for seasonal or ethnic foods
want to become more adept at buying our local seafood and shellfish
would like consultation on holiday party menu planning
are hosting a private party and need help shopping
want to learn how to maximize your food budget
are looking for advice on food and wine pairings
want to save time by becoming more efficient when grocery shopping

Shop with the Chef Benefits

Shop with the Chef	Shop without the Chef
Shop the periphery of the grocery store and purchase healthy, whole foods	Shop the middle aisles of the grocery store and purchase unhealthy processed foods
Learn how to read labels and choose the best and freshest foods	Skip reading the labels, buy a product that is spoiled or bad and throw it away
Discover different vegetables and fruits and receive cooking suggestions	Purchase the same vegetables and fruits and cook them in the same old way
Discover what is in season and enjoy foods that are at their peak in flavor and nutrition	Purchase foods out of season that can cost more, are often picked too early, taste terrible, contain pesticides, and do not have much to offer nutritionally
Save time by shopping at the stores where the desired ingredients are located	Spend too much time searching multiple stores for ingredients

Summary Pricing for Shop with the Chef Services:

A free client assessment interview will be conducted first to determine the client’s education goals for using the Shop with the Chef Service. A free custom shopping plan will be developed and reviewed with the client along with an estimate of the professional chef services fees involved in the client outing.

Our personal chef will escort the client through the selected grocery stores and fish markets and offer cooking suggestions and other useful tips for purchasing healthy, whole foods including the freshest fruits and vegetables.

In the event the Shop with the Chef Service is combined with our In-Home Personal Chef or Private Cooking Class Services, we will provide you with a custom proposal detailing our service fees and estimated grocery expenses.

This grocery shopping/in-home food preparation format allows for the client to shop for the menu items and then come home and prepare them using their own kitchen equipment either in an individual or group setting.

This estimate will be based on the custom menu plan selected by the client and the number of guest attending the event. Any alcohol including wine and beer are to be purchased separately by the client unless previous arrangements are made in advance.

To order this service or request additional information, please contact Pati D’Eliseo at 971-506-6695 or Bruce Birt at 541-270-5387 or email us at chef@apostochefs.com.