FAQs
Basic Information
What is Eat Simple Food?
Eat Simple Food is a natural and organic private chef service for homes, business/corporate retreat, yacht or villa rental. Eat Simple Food takes care of custom menu planning, grocery shopping, preparing ingredients, cooking, cleaning up, and detailed re-heating instructions. My goal is to enrich your life by making you delicious healthy meals made with organic, local, and sustainable ingredients.
How Does a Private Chef service work?
After you contact Eat Simple Food, we will set up your in-home or phone consultation and discuss the food likes and dislikes of everyone in your home including any allergies or anything that you are trying to accomplish with your diet. Details on personal taste and allergies will be integrated into the meals. Menu creation can be collaborative or left up to me. It is not necessary for you to be home when I’m cooking, although I never mind the company!
How Do I pay for and book my date?
You can purchase different meal plan packages online under “hire me”. You will need to contact me directly at beckie@eatsimplefood.com or at 843-410-FOOD (3663) to schedule your day.
Where is Eat Simple Food located?
Charleston, S.C. and surrounding areas.
Do you service areas outside of Charleston?
Yes. Clients with large freezer capacity in other parts of the country have flown me out to keep their freezers stocked with good, healthy, organic food.
Do you sell gift certificates?
Yes, we do. You can buy gift certificates online or call 843-410-FOOD (3663) or email beckie@eatsimplefood.com – we’ll send you and/or the recipient the certificate via email.
What forms of payment do you accept?
Eat Simple Food’s credit card processor is PayPal. We accept VISA™, MasterCard™, American Express™, Discover™, Debit/ATM Cards, PayPal™, cash and personal checks.
Payment
In order to hold your cook date, Eat Simple Food requires that your payment for chef service be paid in full when your cook date is booked. Payment for groceries is due at time of cooking.
Cancellation Policy for Private Chef Services
Cancellations and/or reschedule requests made more than 7 days in advance are subject to a full refund. Cancellations and/or reschedule requests made less than 4-7 days in advance of your session will be subject to a 25% fee. Cancellations made within 3 days (72 hours) are non-refundable.
Can I use your pictures?
All the pictures are copyrighted. Please ask to use my pictures for any reason. I will most likely say yes, but I will also legally pursue you if I find out and you didn’t ask.
Do you have insurance?
Yes, Eat Simple Food has General Liability insurance of 1 million per incident and 3 million aggregate annually.
Food
Is everything organic?
No. Our meals are generally about 95% organic. There are some ingredients that are either not available organically (e.g. salt, honey, wild-caught seafood), or we cannot find a cost effective and reliable source (e.g. mirin – Japanese cooking wine).
Are groceries included with the prices?
Groceries are not included. You will get a receipt of your groceries on your cooking date and will need to pay for them then. Please let me know if you need me to pick up anything from the grocery store for you.
Do you provide side dishes?
Yes. While some of our organic meals are one-pot meals and do not need side dishes (stews, soups, etc.), other meals are not complete unless they are paired with just the right side dish. For example, most of our organic dinners include a starch (rice, potato, pasta, etc.) and a vegetable, such as carrots, corn, kale, spinach or broccoli.
Can I defrost my meals in the microwave (or what is the best way to defrost my meals)?
We recommend letting your meals defrost in your refrigerator. If you want to speed up the process, we suggest using a cold water bath – just put the Ziploc™ bags in a large bowl in your sink with cold water circulating/flowing around them for about 30 minutes.
I am allergic to gluten – will your organic meals work for me?
Yes. I have worked with numerous people with allergies and specifically gluten.
What if I have severe food allergies?
Your (and your family’s) health and safety are of the utmost importance to us. We work hard to address the concerns of customers with food allergies and other health issues. In addition, we can also review recipe ingredients over the phone (843-410-FOOD) or via email – beckie@theorganicdish.com
Do you use ingredients with preservatives or MSG?
No. We do not use preservatives in our organic dinners, but there may be a small number of prepared ingredients (i.e. condiments, sauces, soup stock, etc.) used in our recipes which may contain preservatives or monosodium glutamate (MSG).
If you have concerns regarding preservatives or MSG please email beckie@eatsimplefood.com or call us at 843-410-FOOD (3663) prior to ordering, and we will review each meal’s ingredients with you.
Do you provide dessert?
Although I am an excellent chef, I am not the best baker. Nor, do I like sweets very much (or think that they are good for you). If you request dessert, I will most likely make you a nice fruit and cream or spice dish with nuts. Otherwise, I will just buy your desserts at an artisan dessert shop or get your desserts at the grocery store, depending on your preference. Desserts that are bought will just be an extra expense on your grocery bill. Desserts that I make will be charged based on $50 an hour.
Are there Container Fees for the Meals?
Your meals will be stored in ziploc bags, freezable microwave containers or Pyrex containers. Some meals will be stored in the refrigerator, while others will go in the freezer for a later date. Disposable containers are purchased for your initial use and included in the packages. Most of the containers are microwavable, stackable, refrigerator, freezer friendly, leak resistant and durable. If you choose a non-disposable container (which is encouraged for long term clients), such as Pyrex, an additional cost will be charged to cover the fee of the containers.