Chicago-area Entrepreneur Named 2006 Chef of the Year

Riesterer receives highest annual honor of the American Personal Chef Association

SAN DIEGO, August 31, 2006 – Terry Riesterer, owner of Paragon Chef in Hoffman Estates, Ill., has been voted Chef of the Year by the members of the American Personal Chef Association (APCA).

Riesterer’s company specializes in meeting the home-cooked-meal and special-diet needs of her client base, which spans the metropolitan Chicago area and embraces all modern lifestyles, from single adults to dual-income families to elderly couples. A portion of Riesterer’s business is devoted to small and medium-size corporate clients.

Riesterer is the fourth Chef of the Year honored by the American Personal Chef Association. She is also the first chef of Latin descent to receive that distinction. Six other personal chefs from across the nation vied for the 2006 award.

Growing up in Milwaukee, Riesterer worked each summer in the restaurant owned and operated by her Spanish grandfather and Mexican grandmother. The menu featured traditional American fare and Latin specialties. After her grandparents’ death and the sale of the restaurant, Riesterer continued to cook for family and friends while building her career in marketing.

In 2000, Riesterer was a sales-and-marketing executive at a large Chicago corporation. A misdiagnosed cancer scare forced her to evaluate her life goals. “I dodged a very large bullet,” Riesterer said. “It was like a second chance to get it all right. My husband and son told me I should start doing what I loved. We saw a Food Network show on careers in the food industry, and there was this thing called a ‘personal chef.’ I called the APCA, and after an hour and a half on the phone with the executive director, I signed up for training and hung my shingle a couple months later. I have never looked back. It was the best thing that could have happened to me!”

Riesterer has been featured widely in Chicago-area newspapers and on local television throughout her six years as a small-business owner and chef. She was part of a team of American chefs that placed second in the Gastronomodes 2002 Culinary Competition in France, at which Riesterer was awarded Prix d’Honneur, Chef de Cuisine. She will return to France this November to compete again.

“The American Personal Chef Association is elated to recognize Terry as its Chef of the Year,” said Candy Wallace, founder and executive director of APCA. “Not only has she triumphed at a second career, but her success is proof that dedicated people can achieve their dreams of cooking professionally while owning their own businesses. Against the backdrop of family members not eating together and children consuming so many processed foods that they practically glow in the dark, Terry, by bringing satisfying, flavorful, home-cooked meals back to the dining-room table, is one of the best examples in the nation of the positive impact a trained chef can have on society.”

Industry and community minded, Riesterer is a member of the International Food Service Executives Association, American Culinary Federation, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs, Harper College’s Hospitality Management Advisory Committee, Kappa Beta Delta International Business Honors Society and the Illinois Department of Health’s Obesity Council, which drafts legislation to fight the growing problem of obesity among area youth. Additionally, she serves as vice president of the Chicagoland Personal Chef Chapter of APCA. Riesterer also works diligently with the Children’s Home & Aid Society of Illinois, providing daycare and nutrition for children of low-income families, as well as Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS), a group dedicated to housing and feeding Chicago’s homeless.

For more information on Riesterer and Paragon Chef, visit www.paragonchef.com on the Internet. For more information on APCA, visit www.personalchef.com.

The American Personal Chef Association, celebrating its 10^th anniversary in 2006, promotes the “business of doing business” as a personal chef through ongoing peer interaction and education while fostering professionalism in all aspects of cookery. Through its Institute and education partners, APCA offers sound training in establishing successful and fulfilling careers.

Chef2Chef News DeskNews at Restaurant.OrgResearch and MarketsNation's Restaurant NewsSpecialty Eatery News