Optimizing Health from the Ground Up with Season's Best Ingredients

Thank you for having me.

Oh, it's my pleasure. I'm super excited to chat with you and learn a little bit about what you do. I know that we're both here in the Bay Area so I look forward to getting you to be one of my neighbors, too. So Kevin, if you would, would you please introduce yourself and just a title for what you do?

Sure. So my name is Kevin Bressani. I am the owner and Head Chef at Healthy Roots Chef, which is a private or personal chef service here in the Bay Area.

Awesome. I got to learn more about that on a personal level too. So in the meantime, can you tell me a little bit about your speciality and your background that led you to your company?

Sure. Yeah. I went to school at Bowman College here in Berkeley, it's a school for holistic nutrition and culinary arts. And I became a certified natural chef in 2009. And since then, I've been working as a private chef in the Bay Area for the last 15 years. My focus is basically providing clients with healthy meals that are sourced from organic and local ingredients.

Wow, that sounds amazing. And like somebody I've been looking for forever. So the first question that comes to mind is you say local and organic and sometimes it's a choice, either local or organic. And sometimes if you're going seasonal, you can get local and organic. But I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. How you make your choice for whether it's local, organic when not available together.

Well, living in Marin County, we are very privileged to have an abundance of local and organic ingredients at our disposal. I generally shop exclusively at an organic grocery store here called Good Earth Natural Foods. It's like shopping at a Farmers Market in Marin County. We have two main Farmers Market as you know on Thursdays and Sundays. But as a private chef, I do a lot of my shopping on those that the Farmers Market isn't operating. So shopping at Good Earth is literally like shopping at the Farmers Market. The same purveyors that are at these local Farmers Markets are actually selling at Good Earth as well. So when I go to Good Earth, whatever is available is mostly local. They do source some things from Mexico and Southern California in the offseason. But I'm specifically looking for as much as possible the local purveyors, so whether that's spinach, or different kales and oranges, Brentwood, and so further out in the bay area, there's always local produce available at Good Earth. And if I can't find it there, I will try to make it to the Farmers Market on Thursday or Sunday.

So it sounds like you're shopping locally to get both the local and the organic products. Yes. So you're not really choosing local organic, you're choosing both.

Well, that's the privilege of being in this area. We have that available to us.

I'm curious, if you wanted a pineapple and it wasn't in season, but Good Earth gets it from Mexico and it's organic, would you choose a different fruit or vegetable?

In that situation, it's also dependent on what my client is requesting. So it's kind of up to them because I provide a list of customized menu options for them based on their dietary requests. So that's up to them of what they actually choose so I can steer them in a certain direction. But if someone's really craving pineapple, I'm going to make sure that it's an organic pineapple versus conventional pineapple. And then there is another opportunity for me and some of my clients to cook in their house. And in that respect, I can choose the menu. And it also depends on how important that is to them. But most of my clients are familiar with how important seasonal eating can be. So I might offer that instead of the pineapple, maybe doing more of like a citrus salsa or something in that line.

I know that from what I read before we got to chatting that you have some interest in food as medicine. I'd love to hear how that ties into eating seasonally and your philosophy on that.

Okay, sure. Well, I had an opportunity when I was younger to travel around the world a little bit. I spent some time in Australia as a willing worker on organic farms, and this kind of exposed me to permaculture and the importance of biodiversity, and just whatever we're growing the soil is so important in that process. And as your listeners might know, now we have an issue with even purchasing organic food or it might be produced in a farm that has been over farming, and so that the mineral content of the soil has been depleted. It really brought to my attention how important soil is to that, and I had another opportunity to experience food in medicine, a course of a natural healing course in Honduras and Belize. And on that trip, I spent about a month with a few other medical doctors. I was just interested in it. We spent some time with some local healers and local medicine men and women that go into the jungle to forage. And it really kind of showed me that what we have around us and in our local environment can be utilized for health and nutrition. And so in my work as a chef, and my schooling going to Bowman College, I'm really trying to get the freshest ingredients possible. As soon as something is picked, a lot of times, it can sit on a truck, and then it can get delivered. So shopping at Farmers Market is the ideal way to do it because you know that the farm is producing that food within a day or so and bringing it to market. But yeah, I would say that I'm looking at freshness as an issue. Obviously organic biodynamic, but you know food is your medicine, in my philosophy is anything that's not processed. So any food that is wholesome, whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, these are things that we should be eating and putting it like medicine in your body and prevents you from having to take drugs. If you're interested in health, you should be eating holistically in that regard.

Can you share a story of the impact it had whether you are a friend, or family, or a client, that by changing their diet and eating this way, it's improved the way that they feel.

Sure. I can just speak from my own experience. About 20 years ago, I kind of realized the importance of eating organic. And 15 years ago, I stopped eating gluten and lost 10 or 15 pounds initially. So that was kind of an interesting wake up call since then. A lot of times, people think that gluten free is the answer to health. But really, there's so many gluten free products out there that have a lot of processed flours like potato starch and things of that nature. Cassava flour, your body treats that just like it would a processed flour, it turns it to sugar. So for me, it's been more focusing on whole grains and getting fruits and vegetables into my diet, and I have more energy. I've just felt a shift. When I went from that about 15 years ago, it was almost instantaneous. And yeah, it's nice to lose weight, have more energy, try to sleep better, all was affected by my dietary changes.

So is that what inspired your interest in food as medicine?

Yeah. I'd have to go back even further. New foods have always been an important part of my life. I come from a family that values gathering around the table, and the food that we eat is really important. And so as a kid, I was kind of a picky eater, but my parents forced me to eat my vegetables. I really became more interested in that and eating a wider variety of foods because of that. But yeah, as a kid, I also watched a lot of PBS. And seeing them cooking on the TV got me excited and hungry to learn more about cooking. So I've always been enjoying the experience of eating. But I think once I was in my 20's, I had a friend that actually was diagnosed with colon cancer at a really young age. She really helped me to explore what alternatives were available to her eating and for eating for health. And I think that's kind of part of my shift as well as thinking, okay, well, what are we putting in our bodies? What can we do to ensure a longer life? To me, that was eliminating processed foods trying to eat organic. And myself, I tend to eat an omnivore type of diet. I think it's important to get a balance of everything, so I've met that myself. I know people are really interested in other reasons for eating vegan and vegetarian.

Flour is really a big thing.

I think it's important. But I also think that there is an importance for animal protein and fat as well in a smaller amount. It shouldn't be the biggest portion of your meal, but I do think that it's important for health as well.

And yeah, I'm really glad you shared that. I'm a bit of an omnivore myself, and I do like my restaurants and I like to have meat and kind of extra balls. I've skewed away myself from a lot of the lentils because I find that I don't digest it well. I don't know if you've ever experienced that or you have clients that do, but it's not as complicated as I often feel people make it out to be a steak finish. It's not complicated, right?

Totally no. That's actually how I like to eat.

A piece of fish with some olive oil sauce, garlic, and then some spinach in it, or some mushrooms or whatever.

I think that the variety is despite the spice of life and for our health, it's really important as well. I think you know what the standard American diet is. Most people are only eating five or six different things, whether that's vegetables or fruits, or meat. So yeah, I agree. It's important to have more balance, I think, for our eating approach.

So what made you decide to launch your business?

After attending Bowman College, I knew that I wanted to be a personal chef. It was an exciting field, I think, because I had worked in restaurants as a younger person, and the stress involved with restaurants was just too much. I wanted a lifestyle that was conducive to my own lifestyle and trying to keep it as stress free as possible. And also the opportunity to provide individuals and families with healthy meals, to me, was really kind of the motivation. I was saying earlier, it's like how I like to eat as well, and so I was already doing it for myself. And if I could turn that into a business where I was helping other people at the same time, that was really exciting to me. And on the other side of it, I have some clients that are interested in eating healthy, but they also have kids and a busy career. And so for them, the benefit of my service is just having a meal, sharing a meal with their family where they know that it was prepared in a healthy way and they don't have to do any of the shopping, they don't have to do any of that cooking. They can just sit down, pop the glass container in the oven, reheat it, and share it with their family. And to me, that's really important. I think as busy as we've gotten in our society, we've kind of gotten away from that focal point for the meal, centering around the meal and having the family come together. I've had more and more clients telling me just how much they appreciate that aspect of it as well.

Are there many clients that you feel have really changed the way that they eat while working with you?

Definitely. I've had many clients that lose weight. I've had many clients really reduce some of their health issues that they've been working on. And yeah, the feedback has been really positive. Definitely.

Are there any statistics that you found that talk about the impact of how we eat on our health?

I think that if you look at lots of articles in all kinds of medical journals, I think the people are now realizing the past. You went to the doctor for a certain ailment, and they might give you a pill or something to take. And that's still part of our culture. But I think more and more, even our medical community is now realizing the importance of nutrition as it affects our health. I can just speak from my own experience. My own doctor has recently shared with me that I need to exercise a little bit more, and I'm in my mid 40s. And to me, I had the healthy eating part, but the exercise in conjunction with that is also important. So yeah, I think there are definitely a lot more awareness around eating for health.

Yeah, I would say so. Are there any anecdotes from your clients that you work with that maybe you could share?

Nothing that really comes to mind. Like I said earlier, to positive feedback, people saying that they feel better, they have more energy when they're eating like this. For example, one client told me recently before working with me, they would order from DoorDash and things like that because it's convenient. You're eating from a restaurant, but see that that restaurant is not necessarily putting your health front and center.

What kind of oil are they using? Where are they getting their produce? Is it organic? Non organic?

And it might taste really delicious. I'm sure it tastes good, and that's why it's convenient for people. But as soon as they started using my service, they noticed that they were losing a little bit of weight, they had more energy. In terms of the cost, and having a private chef cook for you isn't the cheapest thing you can do. But what he was telling me was he was spending nearly the same amount on all of his DoorDash orders and had an equal forum. So really, when you kind of weigh it out, it's not that much more expensive.

I was really curious about how accessible this is? For the person that does order DoorDash and Caviar all the time, can you do like if you were to do, I don't know, three days worth of meals from you, or five days worth of meals from you. What would that range? Obviously, it depends on what people are getting. If they're getting (inaudible) versus chicken it is going to be more expensive. But is there something that you maybe share in terms of how that compares to ordering out versus cooking for yourself at home?

Well, I think it obviously makes it, for instance, if it's a family of four versus one person. We all know that groceries have gotten more expensive or across the board. Especially if you're trying to get organic produce, meats and seafood. But yeah, without going into specifics, because it kind of just depends. I talked to a client. I would say it's very close, but it is a little bit more expensive using a private chef. But if you value that you're getting a more healthy meal versus something that tastes good, then I think it kind of depends on what your goals are, what your values are. If you just want that tasty meal delivered and convenient, then you're going to stick to DoorDash. But if health is a concern for you, then it might cost you a little bit more. I don't have the exact numbers in terms of the difference. But just what he was telling me was it really wasn't that much more expensive using my service than ordering DoorDash for every meal. And the benefit is that it's much, much healthier.

Of course. So you've been doing this for how long now?

About 15 years.

I'm sure things have changed and evolved over those times. In the next three to five years, are you hoping to evolve, or chain, or offer different services that we can expect to see?

Yeah. I'm actually looking to expand just in my own business right now hiring more help. Right now, I currently cook kind of a commercial kitchen a few days a week for my clients. And so expanding my clientele and kind of getting myself because I'm still doing a lot of the cooking myself. So my plan in the next three to five years is to be able to hire a little bit more help, and to be able to menu plan for clients more because I often have requests for people to kind of plan out their menu and work on maybe more of the calorie counting side. I just don't have the time to do that right now. So it can be a benefit for clients to do a little bit more in depth work with them. And then also, I've always kind of had in the back of my mind a development of a product, a healthy product like myself. I know that we're always on the go. And for example, I go to the grocery store and I might pick up a piece of jerky or something, or grass fed organic jerky. And then I'm like, well, where's the vegetable part of that? So that I feel like there's a space there. I'm kind of looking in that sphere of pickup and go, but made from real food not processed, or even dehydrated food. It's really important for people when they eat the mouthfeel, the texture. Is it nutritious? Does it taste good? These are all things people think about. And I myself when I'm looking for that quick snack on the go and you kind of have to piecemeal it together. I'm kind of in the works trying to figure out maybe some type of a healthy product to put onto the market as well.

Have you ever created a healthy product before?

No, I've dabbled a little bit. I create my own dressings and things from everything. I make it from scratch for clients. And kind of grab and go sphere is new for me.

So CPG, whatever you're going to create, it's going to be a whole new entity. So a new endeavor. How do you feel about that process that's going to be coming down the line that's completely different than everything you've done? Do you feel prepared for it?

It's exciting. Probably not as prepared as I should be. I'm just kind of researching what is currently available. I'm doing some experimenting at home just with my own time trying to see what would work best. I'm excited because I feel like there's always room for something better out there.

Are there any resources you wish you had access to while you're building this?

Yes. I mean, it'd be great to work with another partner or entity to try and brainstorm. I'm definitely open to partnerships, both creatively and financially for that.

Awesome. Well, Kevin, thank you so much for joining me today. I am really getting to learn about you and what you do. I can't wait to talk to you further and see if we can get somebody else here at my house.

Anytime. Feel free to give me a call. I appreciate your time. Thank you, Justine.

So if anyone wants to get in touch with you, obviously on a local level even though this is a global podcast, what's the best way to get connect?

You can check out my website at healthyrootschef.com, or you can email me at healthyrootschef@gmail.com.

Awesome. Thanks so much, Kevin.

Thank you.