GOURMET AT YOUR DOORSTEP PERSONAL CHEF NO LONGER JUST FOR RICH AND FAMOUS.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

AGOURA HILLS - Perry Castellano's skills with the skillet and chops with the cleaver have taken him all over the world, from the cuchinas of Italy, to rustic inns in Connecticut, and now, to kitchens across the San Fernando Valley.

He, like a growing number of his culinary brethren, earns his living as a personal chef. For a growing number of those in the cooking field, home food preparation is replacing the traditional restaurant work, cooking for harried professionals with no time to whip up their own meals. Whether dished up fresh or prepared in two-week, freezable batches, Castellano and his fellow personal chefs' dishes are catching on as workers and homemakers scramble to maximize their time.

``It's convenient, and they get gourmet meals in their home,'' Castellano said. ``They can have whatever they want, prepared with care. I don't think there's a way you can get a better meal.''

Though he worked in high-profile posts, most prominently as chef to the United States ambassador to the Vatican, Castellano tired of the grind of restaurant work. To spend more time with his wife and newborn daughter, he decided to become a personal chef, setting his own hours and enjoying greater freedom to use his culinary skills.

According to the United States Personal Chef Association, the largest and oldest of the culinary trade groups, more than 5,000 such chefs exist nationwide, with numbers growing monthly. They shop for groceries, plan the menus, prepare the food and package it up for clients, leaving up to two-week supplies of gourmet meals that just need to be popped in the oven to warm before dinner. Prices run from $200 to $400 for a two-week supply of meals, plus the cost of groceries.

``This has become an accepted path in the culinary arts field,'' said USPCA co-founder David McKay. ``It used to be, you worked in a restaurant for a few years, then found a wealthy person to work in their home if that's what they wanted to do. But now, this is becoming a totally different career option.''

The Los Angeles chapter boasts 42 members, according to president Shelly Ward, who also heads personal chef firm Shelly's in the Kitchen.

``It's probably going to max out in a short time,'' Ward said. ``With the celebrity status of chefs, people think, hey, I can be on the fast track to success and cash in on this trend. Also, people are more conscious about what they eat, and they're getting busier, too.''

Ward, a 39-year-old graduate of the Los Angeles Culinary Institute in Encino, was drawn to the business for its flexibility. After starting off two years ago, she's developed a roster of nine regular clients, making for an average four services a week.

``I love to cook, but I didn't want the rigors of restaurant work,'' Ward said. ``That doesn't pay as well as when you can be an entrepreneur. But I've found out that this isn't quite as easy as I thought - it really has been pretty rigorous.''

The level of service varies, from the two-week cycles with clients handling all the reheating to in-the-kitchen services where the meal's freshly plopped down on plates for hungrily awaiting diners.

``I work with one single man who can't even slice a tomato,'' said Judy Parkinson, who services Glendale and the San Gabriel Valley as head of Delectable Dinners. ``He has no experience in the kitchen, so I have to cook for him twice a week. Most people just don't have the time. We have a lot of families where mom and dad both work, the kids are at day care until 6, then you still have another hour making dinner. They just want something they can pop in the oven and be ready.''

For workers like Betsy Haas, a Van Nuys-based motivational speaker, a personal chef saves time and enriches the diet, as well.

``When you come home to a wonderful, nutritious dinner, that's wonderful,'' Haas said. ``It brought my cholesterol down into a normal range, and most importantly, when I grab for something to eat, it's healthy. It's a little higher than restaurant prices, but I get exactly what I want, and I don't have to go out. Every minute counts to me, so while it's heating up, I can still be working.''

Others like the service for its convenience. Mike Riley, a Newhall retiree, still finds his time occupied enough to warrant calling on Ward to prepare meals once a month.

``It gives me more time to spend with my wife,'' he said. ``You can sit down and have a delicious meal and not have to worry about anything. We're not super-rich, we're just middle-income, but it's certainly worth it.''

The service's popularity has grown to a level where, in a moment of delicious irony, even personal chefs need personal chefs.

``I got so busy one week, I had to hire one,'' Ward laughed. ``People couldn't believe that I was doing it, but I loved it - it was so convenient.''

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10 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Personal Chef Perry Castellano prepares a tuna steak in his own home kitchen. The personal chef business is a growing field for those who can't stand the heat of restaurant kitchens.

(2 -- 9 -- color -- no caption (Food)

(10) Besides running a catering business and preparing food for clients in his own home, he also cooks in clients' kitchens.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer