Meet Blake Stine | Chef / Owner

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

Hi Blake, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
There were several thoughts going through my head before taking the plunge and starting Denver Private Chef. It was in the middle of the pandemic, restaurants were closing their doors left and right and work was hard to come by. I knew that the general public still needed great restaurant quality meals even though there were not many places capable of supplying that type of food given the new restrictions and closures. It became so clear to me – “Why couldn’t I just bring the restaurant to them?” I have to admit that I was pretty nervous, with this being the first business I’ve ever started, but we all have to start somewhere. Luckily for me my wonderful girlfriend is a business owner of 7 years, and helped me along the way immensely with the flood of questions that comes with being a first time business owner.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I like to look at a dish like a blank canvas. As a Chef you have the ability to arrange and manipulate the ingredients to create either a masterpiece or a catastrophe, and a lot of that is trial and error. Where I have the most fun and what I easily get the most excited about is fresh pasta. Spending the last 6 years focusing on the art of fresh pasta has really opened my eyes to how wonderful it is, so much so that I use that as a focus for my business. I’m always surprised when a client tells me that they’ve never experienced fresh pasta, but it makes me very happy when I can bring that into a menu for them and they can see the process of how it’s made and are able to experience it in a variety of preparations!

I’ve been cooking professionally since I was a teenager. There was always a deep rooted love and respect for food that became even more serious as I hit my 20’s. It took a lot of effort and grit to obtain and hold on to a job in a good kitchen back then, as Denver had a relatively small food scene. There were always more cooks with better work history and experience, so whenever a friend reached out with a spot on a great kitchen line, I never hesitated to jump at it. I think looking back at it now, I always pushed myself to work in more challenging kitchens, fine dining, and always considering who was doing the coolest food. These kitchens are where I learned the most about technique, timing and how to keep it together even when you’re getting buried in tickets and are so stressed out that you feel like you are about to crack. There were times when working 2 jobs, never sleeping and barely covering the bills had me considering doing something else, but the kitchen is where my heart is and I know it’s where I’ll always remain in one form or another.

I’ve learned through this career in creating food for people that it takes everything you have to give, and then some. If it were just part time to me, I don’t think I would have lasted this long. If you are not in it 110%, then it can eat you alive if you let it! But if you truly love cooking food for people, it can be the most gratifying experience of your life, and that is why I still and always will love it.

I just want anyone who comes across Denver Private Chef to be able to experience the wonder and amazement I still experience from food. I am most happy when my clientele taste and experience a custom curated dinner where they can be surprised and thrilled by the food I am always happy to make for them.

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?
For my epic itinerary, I know we would have to start out at Vesper Lounge for Imperial’s and Gyros. From there cruise down to the Denver Art Museum, see if there are any new exhibits. From there make our way to Coors Field for a Rockies game. After that definitely have to go to Biker Jim’s for some sausages. Next up would be checking out all the fun stuff going on over in RiNo, depending on the night might even get Vino Out The Trunk if they’re in that area. If not, then make our way up to William’s and Graham for some fancy drinks and see what the menu is looking like, maybe see some old friends / coworkers up there. By this time, we might have had a few too many and would need to pop into Uncle for a bowl of ramen to straighten out before going to 1up for some games… and probably more drinks.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a shoutout to all of my friends and family who have been incredibly supportive and encouraging in this wild endeavor of mine. But above all, my girlfriend Julie. She’s been in my corner since the beginning and continually is there for support when everything seems a bit too daunting. She knows how to push me to keep driving forward, and to keep trying new and crazy ideas with food. And I absolutely have to mention the truly fantastic Chefs that I have had the pleasure of working for over my career who taught me about the beauty of food and how to manipulate ingredients to make some incredible flavors.

Website: denverprivatechef.com

Instagram: @denverprivatechef

Linkedin: @Denver Private Chef, LLC

Facebook: @denverprivatechef