long island

I Love My Coffee says Chef Vanda

My Perfect Dessert

I love my coffee. Ever since I was a little girl, I was fascinated with the beverage. My father would prepare an espresso and I was only allowed to lick the spoon. I wanted the foam but he would tell me “Why should I give you my foam?”

My father ran a famous restaurant on Long Island, and at 13 I ran the espresso machine at Le Baron in Hicksville. I prepared specialty coffees for all the waiters; they would bring me the cups with the liquor already in it because I wasn’t allowed to pour alcohol.

When I visited Portugal a few years back, I found they drink so much coffee. At first, I had an espresso every once in awhile but by the time I left I was up to 12 espressos a day.

Throughout my career in the service industry, people always would come to me for their specialty coffees because I could make a milk foam that felt like whipped cream, everybody loved that.

Sit down, let me pour you a cup.

How do you take your coffee? Do you have any fond coffee memories, or is it just me?

Seafood Tapas with friends

Over the winter, I had an old friend come by from California (she’s originally from New Jersey, but that s another story). I put together a sampling of tastes that she would not experience commonly in Los Angeles.

Spanish beans, shrimp ajillo, broiled octopus with spanish paprika, iberian clams in green sauce, spanish baked fries, spanish chorizo, squid with shallots in ink, and albarino white wine.

Meet Chef Vanda – Long Island Personal Chef

“Everything I do stems from my belief in family. My goal is get the family back to the table with wholesome, healthy foods. People in continental Europe don’t die as young as here because there’s less stress and more focus on the family. Meal time is bonding time.”

I will bring to your home the kind of personal chef service I have brought my clients in New York since 1998. By trying to create each meal as the best meal they have ever tasted, my clients in Long Island, Westchester and all of the Metro New York area enjoy healthy meals without compromising taste.