Had a great private lesson with Mellissa. She is easy going and a pleasure to work with. In addition to leaning some new knife skills, Melissa put together a wonderful Korean, multi-course meal to prepare together, giving great techniques and tips during the lesson. Melissa is very knowledgeable in , not only teaching cooking skills, but also nutritional and wellness as related to food. Would highly recommend for cooking and knife skills lesson. read more

I hired Melissa for a Holistic Yoga Retreat. I am a Holistic Health Practitioner and I am very particular about food and meals. She impressed everyone, from presentation to flavors, she checked every single box. On time, professional, nourishing and delicious meals. She is not just cooking, she makes sure every cell in your body will feel delighted. Melissa is a great chef! read more

Chef Melissa planned a terrific cooking class and dinner to help our family celebrate my son's birthday. Melissa was a patient and knowledgeable teacher as she led us through knife skills and taught several cooking methods for mushrooms, greens and tofu. She introduced flavorful sauces & spices. The end result was a delicious grain bowl with an assortment of toppings-plus a yummy dessert! Chef Melissa encouraged questions and was very concerned that she was meeting our needs. As a result, the night was educational, fun, and just delicious. From the first phone call, Chef Melissa was great to work with. She was accommodating, exhibited excellent communication and follow through and was a pleasure to have in our home. I would not hesitate to hire Chef Melissa in the future. read more

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Chef Melissa delivered an amazing, soul-nourishing, tastebud wetting experience for my multi-day women's retreat. From our first call to our last meal, she was professional, attentive, and dedicated to make sure her menus were a reflection of my vision. We wanted to use the fall season as inspiration and have a variety of textures and flavors at every meal. We opted for a gluten-free experience and the flavors exceeded my expectations. All of my guests raved about the taste and many were surprised by how much they didn't miss the meat! The food presentation was colorful, beautiful and these photos don't even fully capture how good it all looked. She really worked with me as a teammate to make sure the food was top notch. I wish I could have a Melissa preparing meals for me every day! read more

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I highly recommend Chef Melissa. She gave my 20 yr old son, my husband and I a private class in our kitchen. This was to celebrate my birthday and I wanted to concentrate on knife skills and easy vegan bowls. Even though I have been cooking for over 45 years, I learned a lot, starting with the knife skills! We all gained much appreciated confidence in how to adjust flavor and how to combine ingredients. The sauces (the key!) were divine and easy. She introduced us to a home made shrub (look it up) to have with the meal. She even brought fermented veggies to finish the bowls and truffles for splurge. read more

Melissa taught us a delicious menu that satisfied our foodie wants! She was a delight to have in our home because she was easy to talk to, and an effective teacher. In addition to the menu she taught us, we had also asked her to teach us knife cutting skills. The entire evening was fun and insightful to learn how to prepare new recipes and to learn the proper technique for different types of cuts, how to hold the knives properly, and how to do additional things like make a garlic paste. She also was happy to accommodate our dietary needs with the menu she created. We are so grateful and highly recommend Melissa! read more

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We had such a wonderful experience with Melissa! She came to our home to cook me and my friend a private 3 course meal to celebrate my birthday. She was able to easily accommodate both of our dietary restrictions (vegetarian and gluten free). She prepared a menu beforehand with options for each course, and let us select what we wanted. Melissa was super patient and kind, answering all our cooking questions and chatting with us while she cooked. The meal itself was SO delicious and SO flavorful, and healthy! I really appreciate her commitment to using fresh, in season vegetables. I would highly recommend Melissa! read more

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Can't say enough nice things about Melissa and her cooking. Her food is just delish. As a vegan, it's important for me to eat a well-balanced diet and Melissa's food made a vegan lifestyle an everyday treat. Melissa is also extremely easy-going, friendly, and diligent in how she engages with you. She's thoughtful about sharing her menu for the week, asking about your preferences, and delivering right to your doorstep. For anyone looking to up their nutrition game with personalized attention, I completely recommend Melissa. Thank you Melissa! read more

I asked Melissa to help me with the food for a recent book launch event I hosted, and I could not be happier with how everything turned out. The food was fresh, beautiful and absolutely delicious, and also in perfect alignment with the event itself, which was important to me. Melissa putt together a menu which included lots of fresh veggies, cheeses and some incredible homemade dips, plus some delicious gluten-free pumpkin cupcakes. Everything was professionally set up, ingredients displayed for possible food allergies, and the best part - she set aside some for me to have later, since I was so busy talking to people at the event that I didn't have much of a chance to eat. Melissa has a real gift with food, and is a joy to work with. Can't recommend her highly enough. read more

My Singing Vegetables - Personal Chefs Near Me

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Oh my goodness! Where do I begin? The bursting colors, flavors, and high nutritional goodness of Chef Melissa's magical creations are unparalleled. She is a pure genius when it comes to not only cooking and baking yummy wow wow in your mouth and for your soul, but also in teaching you how to make the wow wow. Chef Melissa is deeply sweet, patient, and creative, making her an outstanding chef and teacher. I recently gifted my 11 year old twin cousins a cooking session with her and they LOVED the experience so much that it opened up a whole new culinary world for them. Chef Melissa is a rare gem! read more

My Singing Vegetables - Chef Melissa taught these 11 year olds how to make divinely delicious Indian Curry and Golden Quinoa from scratch! - Personal Chefs Near Me

I am just going to start with the fact that this review is SO LONG OVERDUE! I don't think there are words I can say, to do Melissa's cooking justice. My husband and I were newbies to plant-based eating, and Melissa showed us how creative you can get with veggies. We used Melissa's meal prep services for about 6 months while we were living in San Francisco. Her food is absolutely SIMPLY AMAZING. For someone with an Irish husband, who grew up eating meat, veggies and potatoes for every meal - we did NOT miss meat at all while eating Melissa's food. She cooked about a weeks worth of food for us every 2-3 weeks and we just could not wait for the next delivery. Each time we knew she was preparing meals for us, we could not wait to try it. Everything was mouthwatering, super flavorful and always exciting to eat. From the very beginning, she has you fill out a very extensive survey of like and dislikes, things you are willing to try, favorite cuisines, and dietary restrictions. This really allowed her to get a sense of the type of foods we would enjoy eating. The menus she curated for us for the week were always so original and something we were really looking forward to. Minimal thinking required on our part - she was always open to us tweaking the menu if we needed to. We would get 3 meals plus smoothies plus a snack or 2 delivered to our home. You get a ton of food - we were covered for lunches and dinners for the week. Unfortunately, we moved to Los Angeles about 10 months ago, so could no longer indulge in Melissa's cooking, but here we are STILL dreaming about her food almost a year later. We have since tried 4 other plant based meal prep chefs in Los Angeles, and none of them have been up to Melissa's standard. The menus are not exciting, and the food was simply ok. Sadly, we have gone back to trying to cook ourselves and occasionally try to recreate Melissa's meals (unsuccessfully). Of note, some of our personal favorites: coconut curry tempeh meatballs, falafel waffle and slaw with hummus, tomato gallate with peach arugula salad, veggie koorma, mango coconut energy balls, and honestly so MANY MORE. Do yourself a favor and book Melissa for all your meal prep needs - YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT! My only regret is that Melissa does not live in LA. We (including Theo) miss you Melissa!! read more

Melissa provided a week's worth of food to me and my wife during my knee surgery. The food was phenomenal and just what I needed for recovery. The ingredients were fresh and seasonal. The dishes were healthy and nourishing (as an omnivore, I couldn't believe how much Melissa's meals made me forget about meat!). Most importantly, her food was made with love and care...and you could literally taste the positive vibes with each bite. And before I forget, Melissa also included some tasty fermented items (sauerkraut, peach salsa) that were the pièce de résistance for each meal. I would highly recommend Melissa if you're looking for someone to provide you with multiple meals per week or a catered meal for a group gathering. read more

Being nourished by Melissa's cooking at the Return to the Roots of Reiki training retreat in Mt. Shasta, CA was divine. After long days of history lessons, applied practice at the waterfalls, and removing limiting beliefs from my own energy field, Melissa's food was a rejuvenating comfort to hold us through the immersive process. Simple, fresh, absolutely beautiful, and infused with the universal love we were attuned to during that training retreat -- her food is a gift from Nature, and the way she prepares it honors that! read more

Chef Melissa was so awesome, she not only taught and walked you through how to make the meal, she also provided tricks in the kitchen that would help with overall cooking skills and techniques. she had some great short cuts and kitchen safety skills. She is very patient and pleasant. Highly recommend her for adults and kids. Excellent experience. read more