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Rachel Tumerman

Professional Chef

Chicago, IL

Also serves: San Francisco, CA • Detroit, MI • Madison, WI • Toledo, OH • Minneapolis, MN • Indianapolis, IN

25 Years of Professional Culinary Experience

Cutting her teeth at the California Culinary Academy San Francisco and in Michelin starred restaurants like Chez Panisse and Bar Tartine in California, Rachel's cuisine is rooted in seasonality, sustainability, and locality. Since then, she has dedicated her career to traveling and exploring as many global and regional cuisines as possible. From traditional Eurocentric and New American techniques, Middle Eastern, North African, Central and South American, Southeast Asian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and beyond, it has been her mission to proficiently cook (and eat) her way around the world. For the past 25 years she has worked as an Executive Chef, Chef de Cuisine, Culinary Director, Chef Consultant, and Private Chef for a multitude of concepts and clients ranging from high-end fine dining, cocktail bars, cafes, large catering operations, Michelin star restaurants, neighborhood eateries, celebrities you know and love, high-profile private clientele, and families. Rachel has garnered recognition for her work across the US by celebrated food writers and publications, but above all else she values the personal connections she creates through exceptional food and empathic service.

Private In-Home Chef Services Private Dining Events & Catering Restaurant Consultation Corporate Events

Professional Background

25 Years of Professional Culinary Experience
** The below menus and services are merely samples. All of Rachel's services, menus, and pricing are completely customizable to suit your specific needs. Please get in touch with Chef Rachel to begin collaboration on your culinary experience! **
Various works recognized in TimeOut Chicago, SF Chronicle, Nashville Scene, Native Magazine, and Eater Chicago
ServSafe Certification
Food Handler Manager Certification
Basset Certification
BA Culinary Arts California Culinary Academy Le Cordon Bleu - San Francisco

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Services

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Also serves: San Francisco, CA • Detroit, MI • Madison, WI • Toledo, OH • Minneapolis, MN • Indianapolis, IN

Fun Facts

Meet Rachel Tumerman

Client Review
-Frank Pi- "We have had two absolutely outstanding experiences with Chef Rachel Tumerman. She is very professional, personable and thoughtful. She researched food sensitivities within our family, came up with some great recipes that considered those sensitivities and provided instruction and guidance that will allow us to develop more recipes on our own. She has been nothing short of life changing for us. We certainly recommend her and Elite Personal Chefs for any culinary needs."
Client Review
-Jenna Feldman- "Chef Rachel worked with us for a dinner party. Everything about the experience was easy and sweet. It was super easy communicating with Rachel via email/text and over the phone. She incorporated our ideas into the menu she built for us and cooked a delicious family-style dinner that everyone enjoyed. She's also incredibly sweet and easygoing. I got her name from a friend who highly recommended her and honestly, I would do the same - hence why I am writing this review."
Client Review
-Caitie Rodgers- "Flew into Chicago over the weekend for a friend’s party, who had hired Chef Rachel in association with EPC. My husband and I travel a lot and I can easily say she made some of the best food we have eaten anywhere! Not only that, but we loved her vibe and she was so much fun to spend time with. We will definitely be figuring out a way to fly her to us for any of our special occasions in the future. I wish she was around to cook for and hang out with us all the time. If you have the opportunity to get Chef Rachel to cook for you, consider yourself lucky!"
Client Review
-Jenny Friedes- "Busy family with 6 kids. I've worked with several different chefs at Elite and appreciate the service very much. Chef Rachel Tumerman is the best. Extremely skilled at menu development and technical culinary execution. Everything is tasty, from Korean to Mexican to Italian to Thai and beyond. I don't think there's anything she doesn't know how to cook well. She's artistic in her plating -- the food is often quite beautiful -- and each night, the buffet she lays out feels like a gift we get to unwrap. She's pro-active in trying to figure out what we like best and completely responsive to our whims. Rachel adjusts to the varied needs of the individuals (diabetic who needs vegetables, kids who want no veggies, etc.) with patience and humor. Elite Personal Chefs pretty much saves my life and allows me to get a lot more done in my day. The scheduling and payment systems are easy and the company is responsive."
Client Review
-Nicola Orlov- "I have worked with Chef Rachel Tumerman multiple times and absolutely adore her. Her cooking is exceptional, she responds to feedback/suggestions when working through a menu, she's super fun and creative in her suggestions, and most importantly (to me), she's a pleasure to have in our house. I love to cook and I love my kitchen so I was a little hesitant to have someone else in my most sacred place. But I finally decided to give it a try and now I'm hooked. I love having her there, love to learn from her tricks, and she's just easy and fun to talk to. I can't recommend her highly enough and my friends who have tried her cooking have all loved her and hired her separately. I give her a 10 on a 5 point scale."
Client Review
-Melissa Piorkowski- "This is our second time working with Chef Rachel and not only is she an incredible chef, she is also a total joy to be around. My mom has many food sensitivities and allergies. We were looking for a chef who could cook for her birthday dinner. Chef Rachel spent a significant amount of time making sure she fully understood every limitation of my mom’s. She requested her favorite dishes pre-allergies and recreated them for her. The meal is something we still talk about regularly! Everyone ate what my mom ate - a rare treat for her. Chef Rachel came up with a Caesar salad and eggplant Parmesan for someone who cannot eat dairy, tomatoes, or garlic. Not only was the food delicious but the ingredients were creative, and the meal was such an inclusive experience. The birthday dinner was such a success, we asked Chef Rachel if she could teach us some of her tricks. She came all the way to Detroit and spent the weekend with us to share her brilliance - introducing us to so many creative ideas that we could incorporate with foods that were safe for our mom. Not only did we have almost 20 pages of notes from all her knowledge and get to eat delicious food - we had a blast spending the weekend with her. Chef Rachel is an artist and a scientist! I cannot recommend Chef Rachel more! I look forward to finding another excuse to spend time with her!"

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