Meet Rosemary McKenzie

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rosemary McKenzie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rosemary, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process behind starting the business was the desire to continue in a culinary career without the negatives that come from restaurant life. I wanted to connect with my clients and provide personalized culinary experiences for them.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business name is Just In Thyme Personal Chef Services. The mission of the business is to bring top quality culinary experiences to clients in their own homes. We offer weekly meal prep of 3-5 meals and we specialize in in-home events from formal 4-course dinner parties of up to 20 to date nights to casual buffets and hors d’oeuvre parties of up to 50. Additionally, we do culinary classes for up to 10. We do everything at the clients home so everything is served as fresh as possible, which is a definite advantage over off-site catering. We use high quality ingredients and local as much as we can and our meats and seafood are sourced from top butcher and seafood markets. The goal of the business is to provide our clients with restaurant quality meals in the comforts of home and according to their needs and preferences.
The reason I started the business is that a career in restaurants is tremendously grueling. The higher you go the harder it gets and the longer the hours get. The stress and long hours and general kitchen culture result in poor relationships and family life, substance abuse and deteriorating mental and physical health. The time I spent in kitchens was a blast and for a while I loved the grind, but as I got older it became clear that it was unsustainable permanently if I also wanted quality of life outside of work. When I saw the writing on the wall, I decided that I needed to find a way out while still being able to do what I love. It took about 4 years of building the business before I could leave restaurants and do the business full time, a couple years later, my husband, who I met at work, was able to do the same.The flexibility and freedom that comes from working for ourselves is wonderful.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to explore some local breweries and a few good spots to eat, I would take them on a mountain drive and if they liked hiking, I would take them to some good trails, If there was a good artist coming to Red Rocks, I would love to take them to a show. As far as specifics are concerned, that would depend on the person, the season and our mood. I like to just see where the wind takes me as oppressed to planning every detail of a trip.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Rocky Mountain Chefs of Colorado- I completed a 3 year culinary apprenticeship with them and I would not be the chef I am without the experience and training the program provided.

Website: https://Www.Justinthymechefservices.com

Instagram: @JustInThymePersonalChef