Personal Chef Business Opens In Arlington, A Cook For Your Gram

ARLINGTON, MA — With more seniors reporting that they want to remain in their homes as they age and the senior population in the U.S. expected to increase 30 percent between 2020 and 2030, the demand is growing for services that enable the elderly to remain independent. One of the top reasons many older adults move to nursing homes or facilities has to do with a decline in their ability to make enough or the right food for themselves at home. Sometimes the groceries are too heavy, sometimes standing at the stove is too much, or it just becomes too difficult.

Enter Chefs for Seniors. It's a private chef service specifically geared for senior citizens as a way to ensure older adults are eating well and have a little company, while maintaining their independence.

Chef John O'Neill and owner of the Arlington franchise said although the service is geared toward the 65+ demographic, it's not just for people who can't physically cook for themselves. He sees it as the perfect service for recent widow who never quite mastered cooking because his wife always did the cooking; or the busy (they exist!) retiree who has no time to really make meals any more; or the person who is just tired of years of cooking for others and just wants a break.

O'Neill who still lives on the same street where he grew up in Arlington, said after he left his job at an area hospital where he was the executive chef, a friend asked if he would come cook for him in his home as a personal chef. It was a fun experience and it sparked an idea.

"That got me thinking about the personal chef thing, and then I came a cross a news story on NPR about Chefs for Seniors and thought 'wow what a great fit that would be.' He contacted the owner, longtime restaurant owner Barrett Allman who started the original location of Chefs for Seniors in 2013 in the midwest. Allman was all about expanding the reach of the service to seniors in the Boston area needing help with meals and wanting companionship, and after some back and forth and training sold O'Neill a franchise.

How does it work?

O'Neill will come to your home, sit down with you and come up with a meal plan based on your health restrictions and preferences. He'll do an inventory of your kitchen to make sure he doesn't need to buy anything you already have. You pick the meal, then together you walk through the grocery list and he buys the food and brings it over (yes up all those stairs), and then takes the next two hours to cook in your home.

A client generally ends up with about four meals adding up to about 12 servings each visit. The groceries usually cost around $50 (depending on the menu items) and then the service is generally set around $130. A week's worth of the service might run upwards of $180.

The menu?

There's a set menu that rotates every five weeks on the website. This week's selection includes Salmon fillet served with a cucumber and dill yogurt sauce. Served with sautéed yellow squash. Or you could order the Chicken Cacciatore, classic Italian dish of chicken thighs, mushrooms, onion, and carrots, braised in a tomato sauce. Served with potato gnocchi. Or, says O'Neill, you could order up your grandma's meatloaf.

"It's very flexible and there's room for creativity," he said.

Who is this guy?

O'Neill had his first job in the food industry when he was 16 at a Chicago Pizzeria in Somerville.

"Just the kitchen, the noise, the excitement really enthralled me," he said of the little restaurant where girls delivered the pizza on roller skates and he used to scrub the deep dish pizza pans until he went home with wrinkled hands.

"I really did get bit by the food bug," he said. That propels him. And it helps that he loves people. When he and his wife had children he moved from the restaurant side of food to the cafeteria and management side. He has an easy demeanor and likes to chat.

For now the Arlington-based franchise has one chef that will come cook for you; O'Neill himself. So far it's just him and his business partner and friend Christopher McCormick, also a life-long Arlington resident with experience in management.

"He called me and told me about the idea and I said 'I think it's a fabulous idea, and a great way to help get healthy food to people who want it and need a little company. I'm in.' I think we're off and running and things are going pretty well," said McCormick noting that all chefs that the duo hire will be certified and have background checks.

Both stress it's not just about dropping food off.

Talk, sing, drink wine

It's also about connecting with and helping older adults keep their freedom and independence, said O'Neill. A big part of the service is the connections that are made through it. "They can hang out in the kitchen while I'm cooking and talk and sing and drink wine - no I'm kidding about the wine."

But he's not kidding about the connection part.

"I read recently that loneliness is almost as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for your health," he said he's sure that having someone to hang out with once a week could help.

"I just want them to have fun while we're there and be left with the knowledge that they're going to have healthy nutritious meals made the way they like," he said.

O'Neill officially opened for business on December 8 and he's been out and about in his district, which not only includes Arlington, but Winchester, Belmont and Lexington, handing out pamphlets describing his new business. He's already got a consultation set up for this week and expects more to follow. And he's picking up a bit of a buzz about the business, he said.

"I wish I had this for my mom when she was alive. That's what I hear a lot," he says.

To find out more about: Chefs for Seniors

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Photo courtesy of John O'Neill