Chef Adriana cooks custom meals for busy local families
By Suzanne Cristallo
Being one of 16 children didn't hurt.
Adriana Sierra Klingele--known professionally among personal chefs as Chef Adriana--was the 13th child of a bountiful Latin American family. She learned early to become independent, accomplished and self-sufficient: to observe and do.
Her mother made wedding cakes in the Colombian city of Cali, where Adriana grew up with her seven sisters and eight brothers. "It was a very happy place where people danced all the time," Adriana recalls. "We were a lot of happy kids who liked to eat and cook." The food they ate expressed the atmosphere: spicy, colorful and hospitable.
Today, Chef Adriana uses the cooking knowledge she gained from her mother and the French nuns, who guided her through her high school years, to cook for others. She has been the personal chef for busy families throughout Los Gatos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno and beyond for the past four years.
"I would really like to expand locally," she says. She lives in Mountain View with her husband, Kevin, his son and her daughter. The prospect of traveling Highway 17 is not daunting to her. She says that Webvan--the computer-ordered food and home-delivery service--does not serve individual family homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains. She, however, is willing.
Adriana first meets with customers to determine their preferences and dietary needs. Her services for $50 per meal, plus food costs cover shopping and transporting the goods, putting them away, preparing a minimum of four meals a week (each meal serves four people) and cleaning up afterwards. She also will prepare meals for special occasions at $35 an hour, plus food--as is done at corporate parties or weddings, serve it to the guests and then clean up.
Beyond the American and European dishes she offers, Adriana can provide customers with what amounts to a culinary visit to South America. Her spring menu includes baked plantains (a type of banana) with fresh cheese; Carne Asada--beef marinated with beer and served with arepo con queso; Surprise Chicken--stuffed chicken with prosciutto and bourbon sauce and served with pineapple rice; and Tropical Salad that is made with pineapple, coconut, cabbage and raisins.
For variety, there's good old American meatloaf, seared portobello mushroom and wilted chard over barley pilaf, or a cucumber and yogurt soup.
"When families come home, all they have to do is warm the meal," Adriana notes.
Before her years spent locally of polishing her cooking talents, Adriana worked for 15 years as a textile and apparel designer in Columbia. It was there that she met Kevin Klingele, while both were on vacation. They visited back and forth and eventually married, combining their children from previous marriages.
"Kevin is my official taster," Adriana smiles, adding that his experience in the advertising field helps her promote her business. With his moral support and that of friends, she was encouraged to enter the cooking field, the real love of her life. Meanwhile, she attends Mission College two nights a week, where she studies restaurant and hotel management.
"I want to improve everything and learn more about the American culture and what they like," she says.
Chef Adriana, 19835 Skyline Blvd., Los Gatos. 408.354.5508. www.chefadriana.com.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
