For so many chefs, burnout is inevitable when working long hours and having to endure the constant hustle in the restaurant industry. That is exactly what happened to Chef Kahlil Wyche when he decided to walk away years ago and begin a career in banking. Cooking no longer seemed fun.
But soon requests for catering starting coming in and one turned to two and soon Chef Wyche found himself becoming re-acquainted with his first love and now the rest is history.
Born in New Jersey, his first encounter with food was through his aunt how used to bake all the time. Although others thought this was “girlie,” something about it caught his attention. That attention turned into more and he also credits his uncle who was a seasoned traveler and would come up with some of his favorite off-the-wall dishes that were influenced by his travels.
By high school, he was working at various restaurants and eventually pursued a career in the US Army where he worked his way up to Sous Chef serving over 4200 meals a day. He went to work at Clyde’s Steakhouse and Italian Eatery as well as Don Pablo’s where he took a position as the Assistant General Manager to get a feel for working the “front of the house.” But soon found his way back to the kitchen which he affectionately termed the “heart of the house.”
Burned out, he eventually put his chef coat away for a suit. But after doing some personal catering for friends and family, he rediscovered his passion for food and cooking and decided that if he went down that path again, it would have to be under his terms and with the intensions of working for himself. Soon his company, Catering To Your Whims, was born and has been very successful ever since.
Today, Chef Wyche has become known as the Executive Chef ™ serving a diverse clientele that includes churches, entertainers and athletes. His passion for cooking has fueled his innovation and creativity for mixing exotic herbs and seasonings to create some of the best American, Seafood, Creole and Nouveau Soul Food cuisines for clients such as New Jersey Nets starting guard Devin Harris, comedian Jay Anthony Brown and songwriter Phil Hurtt. In addition, he is in charge of running the full kitchen operation at Bethany Baptist Church which has over 23,000 members and entertains guests quite often.
Remembering his own family’s influence, one of Chef Wyche’s goals is to use cooking to bring families back to the dinner table. Busy lives and obligations have taken away the enjoyment and importance of bring families together with food. He hopes to have a hand in changing that through a series of DVDs coming out very soon.
In addition, Chef Wyche is scheduled to release his first cookbook by the end of the year and soon to follow will be his own line of barbeque sauces.
Truly enjoying the fruits of his labor, burnout is no longer an outcome for Chef Wyche who is celebrating success that came playing by his own rules.
For more information on The Executive Chef™, Chef Kahlil Wyche, call 1.866.374.7131.
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