Chef Mario's, Inc - Catering and Personal Chef

	Chef Mario Executive Chef, Owner Chef's Mario's Personal Chef Service has grown from a one-man show, into Chef Mario's Inc- a full service catering and personal chef company that has been serving the triangle for nearly 10 years! Chef Mario began his culinary career washing dishes at about the age of 14 in a small restaurant in Burlington, Vermont where he was born and raised. After the thrill of moving up from dishwasher to "putting the sauce on the spaghetti" wore off, Mario went to Culinary school at both Johnson and Wales in Providence, RI and finished his school education at the New England Culinary Institute in Essex, VT in 1989. His initial career took him from Vermont, to Rhode Island, to Florida where he worked as a Banquet Chef and Supervisor and eventually to North Carolina where, after working for an upscale catering company, he had an entrepreneurial seizure and began his personal chef career in 1998. He began just as traditional personal chefs do and brought all of his pots and pans into each clients home, prepared the weekly meals, and then departed, but as demand for his services grew, it just became impossible to cook for everyone he needed to cook for and in September 2002, he moved into a commercial kitchen in the lower level of a historic home in Cary, NC and became the ONLY personal chef service to deliver meals directly to their clients. As demand grew greater still, we moved into a larger commercial kitchen just off Lake Boone Trail and the beltline, down the street from Rex Hospital where we now operate a full Catering Business as well as Personal Chef Service since approximately August of 2005! Chef Mario has always had a deep desire to help people maintain a healthy lifestyle through cooking and has since specialized in "Healthy Familiar Cuisine", which puts a healthy twist on old, familiar favorites (have you tried this man's meat loaf??!).
	For more info on Chef Mario or Chef Mario's Inc, just give us a call at 919-781-4141 or drop us an e-mail at www.chefmario.com And remember, It Always Tastes Better When Someone Else Cooks!!
	Darcy Brennan General Manager I am the other half of Chef Mario's Inc and the one who is usually taking care of the clients on the customer service end as well as playing marketing guru, website technician, office manager and anything else that pops up! It helps that I'm a complete control freak and I like to have my hands in everything to make sure it all goes off without a hitch! I came on board in 2005 and it has been quite a ride! Since my arrival, we have expanded into the Catering world and have been incredibly fortunate with our success and our absolutely AMAZING clients! We run the kitchen like we run our home- each and every client is a member of our family and we will try our butts off to make sure that every event, no matter how big or how small, is a raving success! There is no greater reward that fabulous feedback from someone who's event was more memorable because they allowed us to be involved with it. I am also the author of the articles in Cary Living and handle everything necessary to run the business, but I like to leave the kitchen to Chef Mario and let him focus on the food.
	I graduated from NC State in 2000, Phi Beta Kappa Summa Cum Laude (which is a fancy way of saying I'm a pretty smart cookie) and ran my own successful business for 3 years before coming on board here. I had initially set out to lend a hand temporarily. I was impressed by the high focus on quality, creativity and dedication to excellence this company has always put fourth, but I fell in love not only with the company, but with the Chef himself (yes, we're a couple, and I'm VERY proud of that fact! :) ). I'm completely self-taught and home schooled in regards to the culinary end, but Chef Mario has taken me under his wing and it is just amazing how much I have learned simply by being in the presence of the amazing Chef Mario! I received my ServSafe Certification in March of 2007 as I believe strongly that in the food industry, safety supersedes all else. I believe highly in the importance of good- scratch that- exceptional customer service and am thrilled to be such a large part of this absolutely unbelievably amazing team!





	Luke McMahon Apprentice Born in Pittsburg PA, he’s been a Raleigh resident for the past 15 years. He’s the oldest of three with a younger brother and sister. After studying Graphic Design at NCSU, he decided to make his lifelong love of cooking from a hobby into a career and joined the Apprentice program in April 2007. “I enjoy cooking for people and I saw the Apprentice program as the perfect opportunity to develop my culinary skills through hands-on training in a real world situation”, says Luke. “I’ve found that being in this business can involve some long hours, but when you love what you do, it doesn’t seem like work at all…it’s fun, and the time just flies by’, adds Luke. When not in the kitchen, Luke enjoys playing basketball, watching baseball, football and going to Carolina Hurricanes games, and watching movies, both old and new, with favorites featuring either Al Pacino or Robert DeNiro. He’s also a lover of all types of music ranging from 2Pac toLed Zepplin. In addition to movies and sports, he’s also likes video games and exploring his artistic side with sketching or painting.

	Hannah Chappell Apprentice Originally from Cambridge, Ohio I moved to Clayton, NC in 1987. My educational background is in radiology and nursing. I'm a natural caretaker and have worked extensively with the elderly and with special needs populations and was a nursing assistant prior to discovering my love of food. I actually discovered Chef Mario's through working with them on events as party assistance. I was impressed with Chef Mario's and I loved it so much, I applied to the Apprenticeship program to combine my love of food and taking care of people into one career. Outside of Chef Mario's, I love spending time with my two beautiful daughters, Ava and Savannah. I love to get up and go anywhere exciting, whether it's the beach or the mountains. I enjoy a good thrill to get the adrenaline pumping, like roller coasters, which makes me a natural in the catering business. When I go out, I love Mexican food and I always have music playing wherever I am. In my spare time, I like to shop and kick back to my favorite TV shows.