Superstar kitchens may be actually cool.
Non-public NYC chef Julia Chebotar dished on cooking for the wealthy and well-known — and probably the most “life-changing” amenity she’s seen in an A-lister’s dwelling.
“Multiple ice machines with different shapes,” she informed The Put up this week.
“So you open one little one and they’re shaped like perfect circles. You open another little one and it’s like the shaved ice cubes. And they’re all spaced out throughout the house. I’m like, ‘This is the dream!’”
Chebotar, 36, considered one of 12 competing on NBC’s new collection “Yes, Chef!,” which premieres on April 28, was employed by Ryan Seacrest — however she by no means used the swanky home equipment in his precise kitchen since she by no means cooked in it.
“Ryan Seacrest had an entire different house for me to cook in, where someone would come and pick up the food and deliver it to him. A house on his property, but it wasn’t where he stayed.”
She additionally needed to observe the “American Idol” host’s strict weight loss plan.
“That was really interesting because he ate according to his blood type. So I had to cook his food for his blood type, the girlfriend’s food for her blood type,” she mentioned of the Blood Kind Weight loss program development, which began within the ’90s.
“For example, someone with Type O might thrive on high-protein meats with lean meats and vegetables, while a Type A might do better with a more plant-forward menu … The vitamins that I had to pack for him daily in his little lunchbox was insane. The things that he eats to look that good … it makes a difference.”
Chebotar even has to signal NDAs in an effort to work for some notable names, like a sure well-known Jennifer.
“The assistant was like, ‘Jennifer is really excited to meet you.’ And in my head, I was like, ‘I’m going to meet J.Lo.’ And it ended up being Jennifer Lawrence, which is still cool, but I was ready for J.Lo.”
One other of her celeb shoppers is actress Jenny Mollen, spouse of “American Pie” star Jason Biggs, who lives within the West Village.
“Sometimes Jenny would just call me and be like, ‘Hey, Laz [her son] wants to make a cake. Can you come over?’”
After graduating from Temple College in 2011, Chebotar — who was born within the Ukraine, raised in Brooklyn and now lives on the Higher West Facet — took over the kitchen of her stepfather’s East Village restaurant Natural Grill.
“I did that for about seven years until I gave myself shingles and I was like, ‘I never want to do this again.’”
Now, her bread and butter is serving as a personal chef in Manhattan, the place her shoppers have “some sort of dietary restriction or a busy schedule.”
“I have two little boys on the Upper East Side that I’ve cooked for for the past like six years and I make them dinner. I have a client on the Lower East Side three days a week that is allergic to raspberries, tomatoes, everything red,” she mentioned.
“Last week, I cooked two back-to-back 30-person Passovers in the Hamptons.”
Her new favourite shopper is a 95-year-old lady on Central Park West who hosts dinner events each different Tuesday.
“I basically create the menu, go shopping, prep everything, and then throw a dinner party for her and eight of her closest friends.”
She additionally will get paid to journey outdoors of the town — and recalled a memorable weeklong gig in Miami.
“Someone flew me down to work on their yacht. And all they wanted was rotisserie chicken pulled apart, doused in barbecue sauce, put on a tortilla and put on the George Foreman grill.”
The premise behind “Yes, Chef!” is that contestants are nominated due to their “big egos and hot tempers” and the winner — judged not just for their meals, however their teamwork and the way they improved their habits — takes dwelling a $250,000 grand prize.
Chebotar — who gained Meals Community’s competitors collection “Chopped” in 2020 — had her title submitted by her classmate on the Nationwide Gourmand Institute in Flatiron.
“It’s that I don’t work well with others. I’ve just been burned so many times by other chefs and their egos,” she mentioned.
“I have been getting requests for larger events, and that’s when I do need to bring people in. So it’s hard letting that go.”
Chebotar marveled at how Martha Stewart, who hosts the present alongside Chef José Andrés, at all times regarded “stunning” on set.
“I’ve never seen better hair or outfits on a woman who’s 83 years old. Every day we were like, ‘Martha brings it again.’”
She’s at all times aspired to emulate Stewart, who’s proven her that “a woman can really do anything.”
“Look at everything that she’s accomplished,” she gushed.
“I mean, the goal has always been to be Martha Stewart in any situation, minus the jail time.”
