“If I hadn’t done some of the risky uncomfortable things I wouldn't be here where I am in my career.” - Mea Rigali

Mea describes her unconventional path into the industry as a “nice stroke of luck”, but for Mea and for many others like her I think there was a lot of hard work, talent, and passion there as well.

I spoke with Mea Rigali while she was preparing for an upcoming dinner on a private yacht. She is 29 years old and works full-time as a private chef in Chicago, Illinois. Mea has been cooking professionally now for 8 years and has come a long way from her early days of working at a brewpub in Bloomington, Indiana. Her path to becoming a private chef has been a non-conventional one, but she doesn’t regret a moment of any of the experiences that have brought her to where she is today.

Mea started off as a server at a brewpub in her hometown. One day she expressed interest in working back of house and that is where she found her passion for cooking: “I asked the chef if I could come in and do prep work a few times a week…mixing coleslaw, chopping vegetables, making meatloaf mix…I really enjoyed it.” Deciding to pursue her love of cooking further, Mea took the leap and applied for a “Women in Culinary Leadership” internship grant through the James Beard Foundation. Mea reflects on this time period in her life: “I didn’t have anything to lose. I was really nervous about it, but I ticked all the boxes to be considered and this was a new opportunity for me. I decided to just go for it. If I hadn’t done some of the risky uncomfortable things I wouldn't be here where I am in my career.” She describes this as her “breakthrough moment” saying, “I don’t know exactly where I would be now if I hadn’t done that internship. I think my path would be a bit rockier.” This opportunity brought her to Phoenix, Arizona where, "out of a nice stroke of luck" a connection recommended her for a chef job at a fine dining restaurant in downtown Phoenix. Working there gave her high standards in terms of flavors and presentation and textures and creativity.

After her time in Phoenix, Mea returned to Bloomington and worked for some time as a bartender and later held titles such as “sous chef” and “head chef” at a newly opened restaurant that has since closed. Her experience climbing the ladder from working in a brew pub to advancing to fine dining wasn’t without some hiccups along the way. In 2019 Mea moved to Chicago. She had landed herself a job at “Elizabeth” a Michelin Star restaurant: “I worked there for 1 year and it was very intense. Working with ingredients I had never heard of… techniques I had never used.” Unfortunately this experience was cut short as she was let go due to COVID.

Mea, like many others in the hospitality and service industry, experienced a job loss during the pandemic. Some professionals were forced to leave their industry for temporary work. Mea recalls how lost she felt during that time:

“I applied for office jobs I thought I would hate, but it didn’t matter because none of them called me back anyways.”

So, like many other entrepreneurs, she got creative. Mea started doing meal prep for a family in Plainfield to give her something to do. The family used to be regular guests at Elizabeth before they closed their doors during the pandemic. She began making 3 meals a week for a family of 5 and packing them up and driving them out to Plainfield with reheating instructions. The mom was looking for healthy, lower carb meals. The kids gave special requests for some of Mea’s dishes that were a hit in their household: chocolate chip cookies and her malt vinegar whipped mashed potatoes. Her meal preparation then expanded to a few other families as well. This is what led Mea into her career as a private chef. “The idea of cooking regularly for a family was a foreign idea to me before.” says Mea. “I have really enjoyed cooking meals for the families. It gets me really close with them and I have a really good relationship with them. It’s kind of like making friends with your employers.”

Mea told me that her schedule can vary week to week depending on the needs of her clients. Working as an in-home chef means that when your client wants a prepared meal you are the one there to prepare it for them. Her most recent family has Mea prepare their breakfast and then return in the evenings to prepare their dinner. Mea informed me that some of her friends note their jealousy about her non-conventional schedule saying things like, “It must be nice to have a break in the middle of your day” when in reality, life as a chef is not often all that glamorous: “My days often consist of waking up at 6 AM to do a 9 AM breakfast and I don’t get home until 9 PM.”

A Typical Workday:

11:00 AM-12:30 AM:

Arrive at the client’s home to prepare a brunch scheduled for 12:30.
Pull out some bread from the freezer, pull out french toast for the family, and slice berries.
Put together stewed plums from a meal she had prepared earlier.
Prep some food for the family’s dinner because the mom was going to be working late that night.

Cook up some eggs as per request of one of the daughters that has just arrived home
Table setting
Finish preparing brunch

12:30-1:00 PM:

Clean in the kitchen while the family eats in the dining room (sometimes she listens to podcasts while she washes the dishes)
Clean out the fridge
Mea goes home for a few hours, only to return to the family’s home at 5 to prepare a 6 PM dinner

When asked her favorite dish or cuisine to cook for herself Mea said, “I don’t know if I have a favorite dish to cook. It depends what I’m in the mood to eat. I like to explore and try out different cuisines. I think Asian cuisine is my favorite kind of cuisine to play around with. I really have enjoyed learning a little more about different asian cuisines this past year.” I also asked Mea to share with me some advice to people who are just starting out in their career:

“Don’t let people tear you down as you are learning. I had a lot of chefs tell me that I wasn’t good enough to be where I was. I had some of them tell me I should quit back of house and be a server again. I had some tell me I wasn’t good enough to be working at the restaurant I was at and I would be better suited at a lesser quality restaurant. A lot of these people made me cry. It’s not fun to hear those things or feel those things, but I didn’t stop. I still kept trying and now I’m a private chef. I’m in the process of starting my own business and my career trajectory has been steadily going up in the last year and that was the last thing I expected in the middle of the pandemic. As long as you know this is going to be something you want to do, this is going to be worth it.”

Right before I hung up the phone I asked Mea: “What did you make yourself for dinner tonight?” I half expected it to be some sort of extravagant and exotic meal. Her reply was surprisingly simple: “Grilled cheese.” Apparently. everyone loves a good classic. Even a professional chef!

Mea has been featured in Bustle as well as 77 Flavors of Chicago Podcast.