About Chef Betsy G.

Inviting Betsy G. into your kitchen is like putting your palate into the hands of an artist! Betsy's passion for delicious food is evident with minutes of speaking with her. This Chicago native feels most a home preparing hearty, yet healthy dishes. She calls it "real food". She emphasizes flavors and textures that delight the senses. Fresh herbs are a must in everything except dessert. To reduce fat and cholesterol Betsy regularly sautes in wine and homemade stock. She feels strongly that taste does not have to be sacrificed in order to make a healthful meal.

This Midwesterner started her training early, following her grandmother around the kitchen. "I remember asking Grandma to teach me how to bake and make applesauce. Grandma was not quite ready to have me steal the show and replied that as long as she was around she would do it! Many of my favorite recipes are handed down for Grandma, but many have been recreated by trial and error, trying to figure out the secret ingredient that made hers taste the way it did.”

Betsy and her husband, Sam, have always loved entertaining for their friends and family. "It was a regular event for us to set a formal table and serve our guests in our small apartment dining room." From 1992 to 1996 they served as Private Chef and Butler on several large estates, in La Jolla, California and Chicago, Illinois. They found themselves entrusted with all of the formal entertaining, both for family and corporate occasions. This experience has led them to "take their show on the road", offering customized in-home dinner parties. Betsy explained. "Even fine restaurants can be noisy and impersonal at times. We feel that people who have gorgeous dining rooms in their homes should be able to entertain their guests there", she exclaimed. She continued, "without worrying that the souffles are burning or the soup is boiling over, a host may enjoy visiting with their guests. They truly can be a guest in their own home for an evening."