All About Me
Between booking your private or group dining experience and witnessing exquisitely-plated delights arrive at your table–at first bite, you’ll know the process was executed with nothing short of love, dopeness, compassion, and culinary preciseness.
It’s the Chef Vee Rich way!
Bold, spicy, and dope describe both Chef Vee Rich (Vawanda Richardson) and her love for touching foodie souls through the provisioning of one-of-a-kind dining experiences. Her kitchen is infamously known for its Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Asian-infused aromas, while the various spices and of nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper, and cloves are partnered with basil, oregano, and rosemary herbs. Just add fresh ginger root, lemongrass, and lime leaves and prepare for a giant melting pot of savory flavor to strike your palate.
By the time she was 12, Chef Vee longed for a crockpot and culinary tools instead of a cell phone, gaming system or laptop. She LITERALLY grew up with a passion for cooking as she recalls watching Julia Childs–alongside her aunt–who practically lived in the family kitchen. Serving as a mini sous chef, together, they stirred tasty concoctions in stovetop pans, baked warm sweet memories, and fried up the crispiest fish right outside. Often finding herself apron-to-apron, next to her aunt, little Chef Vee eagerly soaked up every recipe and tasted every sauce, dish, and dessert, for its flavorful perfection, before serving it to the family.
Chef Vee trained for a year at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia where she began working banquets. Her talents quickly accelerated to the grand dining room space and eventually placed her in the golf club–notable for its hosting of the PGA Greenbrier Classic. Arriving back in Atlanta, she worked as a sous chef at the distinguished Commerce Club. During this time, she refocused her culinary efforts towards building legacy. Having grown up in the shadows of entrepreneurs in construction auto mechanics, she knew that fulfilling her dreams equated to running a business and a restaurant of her own. Period.
While serving as executive sous chef for Centurion Restaurant Group, Chef Vee launched a catering business, a nonprofit, a bottled pepper sauce, and authored a book for busy working moms entitled, “Mom, What’s for Dinner?”
Her favorite mantra, Mise en place–a French culinary phrase meaning “everything in its place”--is a method used to assist with organizing and preparing ingredients to maximize taste and to deliver an extraordinary experience. For Chef Vee, the mantra means so much more;it's her way of life–everything in its place and everything served from her heart–with love.
xoxo