Michael Welch, Personal Chef and Holistic Health Counselor

In addition to my personal chef and counseling services, I publish a magazine about the local foods movement in the Finger Lakes region of Central New York called Edible Finger Lakes. It's a quarterly publication that focuses on the farmers, chefs, winemakers, bakers, brewers, cheesemakers and other growers and purveyors of the 14 counties of the Finger Lakes. To learn more about the Finger Lakes and the exciting local foods movement that is happening there, please visit www.ediblefingerlakes.com.

The New York Times has interviewed me a few times recently.
Read about food of the Finger Lakes and eating locally-grown food.

My Bio

My passion for food and healing started 10 years ago when I worked in foreign aid on health and nutrition projects. I traveled to many countries around the world and worked with a variety of people struggling with different conditions. I was a vegetarian at the time and struggled myself with energy levels and getting the proper nutrition in my own diet. I began cooking for myself and reading a lot about how food supports the body. Little did I know I was starting what is now a lifelong passion and profession for food and healing. I started searching for a way to merge my love of cooking and providing healing services to people.

In 2002 I moved to New York City and enrolled in the Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Health. This amazing culinary school trains students to work with whole foods and to prepare meals consisting of local, seasonal, fresh and organic ingredients. While at the Natural Gourmet I was trained in a variety of healing cuisines including macrobiotic, Ayurvedic, raw foods, Chinese medicine, and detox/cleansing diets. I also learned a tremendous amount about the healing elements of different foods such as seaweeds, soy products, herbs and spices, and other plant based foods. It was a life-changing experience to receive the amazing information from the expert teachers and healers at this school.

As part of my education with the Natural Gourmet, I spent some time at a macrobiotic retreat center, the Kushi Institute of Macrobiotics, in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts. While at Kushi, I was trained in the fundamentals of macrobiotic cooking and meal planning. I chose to specialize in macrobiotics after witnessing the amazing healing that occurred for people on the macrobiotic diet.

In 2003 I started Full Plate, a personal chef and catering service. Since then I have been working with clients around New York City, providing healthy meals, cooking classes and catering.

I wanted to expand my services to clients so that they could take more control of their own healing and in 2004 I enrolled in a Holistic Health Counseling certification program with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. This school provides an incredible curriculum, offering insight on all the dietary theories and emphasizes that there is no one diet that fits all people. After finishing the program, I added a counseling component to my business and am now working with individuals one-on-one to help them improve and maintain wellness through food choices.

I absolutely love what I do for a living and I love meeting the people who are interested in my services. Making a difference and empowering people to make the changes they want is what my business is all about.

Michael

Personal Chef

One of the best ways to stay well fed in New York is to hire a personal chef. It's an essential service for you, your family and anyone that eats in your home. By hiring a personal chef you can count on nutritious meals waiting for you when you're hungry and don't feel like cooking.

My specialty is providing health-supportive meals to individuals who are looking to:

• Increase energy
• Recover from surgery or recent illness
• Transition to a new diet based on doctor's orders
• Lose weight
• Increase an overall sense of wellness with the help of good food

I work with clients with a variety of conditions including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, chronic fatigue and many other ailments. For clients working with a physician or a nutritionist, I consult directly with those caretakers to ensure that the nutritional recommendations you have received are considered when I plan menus and choose ingredients.

My services are flexible for each individual client, but in general this is how I work.

Step 1-After an initial conversation about what your needs are, I send you a food preference questionnaire and if possible, arrange for a kitchen consultation where I come to your home so that we can meet in person and I can take a look at what equipment is available and how best to work in your space.

Step 2-We plan a menu and schedule a day for me to show up and cook.

Step 3-On the arranged day, I shop, cook, store and clean up. I leave behind a menu and reheating instructions for all the dishes I've prepared.

Questions you might have about me.

What's my style of cooking?

I'm a big fan of the whole foods mentality which is that food should be natural, local, seasonal and fresh. I use organic produce as much as possible and use fruit and vegetables when they are at their peak in quality. I steer away from packaged and processed foods, preferring to make things from scratch. I can cook many varieties of dishes and like to include lots of vegetables, whole grains, beans, and seasonal fruits. I love to cook with various meats, poultry and fish and always buy from the best sources. I think food should be colorful, delicious, satisfying and made with joy.

Where do I shop?

My favorite places to shop are Whole Foods, the Union Square Farmers Market, various health food stores, Citarella, Zabars, Fairway, the Park Slope Food Co-Op and any place I can get good organic, beautiful produce.

Where did I learn to cook?

I'm a graduate of the Natural Gourmet cooking school in Manhattan. I also spent time in gourmet restaurants and was trained by Cordon Bleu graduates. I was trained in macrobiotic cooking at the Kushi Institute in Massachusetts. Also, I've taken courses at the Institute for Culinary Education and I watch the Food Network religiously.