Healthy, globally inspired food made by a Personal Chef
Cuisines and services designed with a global experience in mind for residential and commercial clients in the NC Triangle.
The Travelling Cafe
Customized food experiences transport you and your guests to a place you have never been, or to a place you long to return.
Our prepared meals and private event chef services can be cooked in your home or delivered to your door. And with public and private cooking classes, you can learn to make exquisite meals yourself.
Our Story
It began with Café Chartier, a unique European Bistro menu, locally roasted coffees, and killer dessert creations. Besides the tempting smells, a cool mix of music was always in the air (often live), and we promoted the work of many local artists and causes within our community.
Our physical location has closed, but we have travelled far and wide in between. And now, the café travels through our mobile chef servicers – sharing food and travel experiences, promoting music, art, culture and philanthropy, and extending hospitality wherever we go.
Incidentally, there are two ‘l’s in our name – no, it’s not a typo. It’s the European spelling.
Extraordinary Experiences
The food experiences, cultural immersion, and cooking classes created by The Travelling Cafe are designed to transport you to the place from which they come.
Our goal is to provide unforgettable personal chef and catering experiences for you and all your guests.
Our Core Values
Our most closely held beliefs guide our behaviors, show who we are, and indicate what’s important to us. At The Traveling Cafe, we’re driven by values and it shows up in our food and level of service.
- Passion: We love what we do and put everything into it
- Imagination: We have fun and promote creativity
- Caring: We care for our team, you, and guests
Meet Your Personal Chefs
Needless to say, we love food.
Leslie Chartier
Leslie (Shar-tee-yay) is the owner and founder of The Travelling Café. Culinary instructor, hospitality manager, singer, poet, former restauranteur, avid traveler and lover of diversity, her first passion is unabashed gratitude to God for all his gifts (especially food).
Her second passion is cooking and sharing her knowledge global cuisines with anyone curious enough to listen. Her gift is being able to translate those cuisines into limiting diet structures so that anyone with food allergies or health conditions can still enjoy the food of the world to its fullest!
Luis Feher
Luis was born and raised in Venezuela to Hungarian parents and grandparents. A Salt-of-the-Earth, Jack-of-all-Trades, Luis was once chef and owner of an Italian Panettone factory, for which he built all the equipment (including the ovens) except the commercial mixers. A long-time Pittsboro resident, he and his wife now own a small farm in Chatham County.
Luis is known for his Hungarian and Latin-based cuisine classes (and Panettone!) Luis is master of many things, in the kitchen and out. He's always willing to lend a hand. If you come to one of his classes and ask very nicely, he might be willing to sell you some farm-fresh eggs at a good price. In 2023, that's something!
Stefanie Prokopiou Boisvert
Hey Yall! My name is Stefanie, I’m a Registered Dietitian and my favorite two words are chocolate and butter. I love cooking and sitting around the table with friends and family eating. Looking back, moments around the table were always the best memories. I believe sustainable healthy eating behaviors begin in the kitchen.
My purpose is to empower others to balancing their 5 - food, health, community, passion, faith. I am half Greek, half Filipino (BUT a Texan girl at heart). Most of the recipes you will make in my cooking classes are inspired by my Yiayia’s (Grandma in Greek) recipes and the foods I grew up eating/summer travels to Cyprus. They are always healthy and fresh with LOTS of herbs, Mediterranean flavors, and since I believe in BALANCE, may include a sweet indulgence. I can’t wait to meet you at my next class! OPA!
Jimmy Long
Hello! My name is Jimmy and I love hiking, running, gardening, disc golf, biology, and of course cooking. I truly love sharing food knowledge with others and watching a previously intimidating cooking process become more understood and appreciated by a beginner cook. I have trained many young and inexperienced workers into strong and valuable employees and I truly enjoy the educational process that is always present in a busy restaurant. Creating food is the most primitive yet innovative, personal yet social, human experience and I always feel privileged to spread that joy and knowledge.
I am half Greek and spent my childhood summers visiting my grandparents in the northern mountains of the Epirus region of Greece. This is where many of our favorite Greek foods like souvlaki and gyros, feta cheese, and savory pies like spanakopita, come from. My grandfather (pappou in Greek) was a professional production baker in Queens after he moved his family to the States. He made the Jewish pastries for hundreds of synagogues through NYC and his rugelach is still the best I’ve ever had! Naturally, first real job out of college was a bakers assistant on a farm in New Jersey. I have held many different kitchen and restaurant positions since then but I will always be inspired by the love and passion my pappou put into everything he made. I cannot wait to share that with all of you!
Bruce Pressey
Chef Bruce Pressey attended Le Cordon Bleu in France after receiving his BA at the University of Pittsburgh. He has spent decades in professional kitchens across many disciplines. After becoming a father while working in California, he chose to be a stay-at-home Dad to raise his two children. During that time, he became a self-taught baker and mastered many ethnic cuisines, amassing a giant cookbook collection and entertaining friends and colleagues over the dinner table.
Chef Bruce's professional training and years of experience have culminated into his current love: teaching cooking classes concentrating on technique, developing a passion in others for cooking and eating, and keeping a sense of humor in the process!
Why The Travelling Cafe?
Our speciality is bringing inclusion into culinary experiences with food for different diets, restrictions, and cultures.
- Experienced and certified
- Trained for special diets
- Culturally enriched
Locations We Serve
- Apex
- Carrboro
- Cary
- Chapel Hill
- Durham
- Hillsborough
- Pittsboro
- Raleigh
Personalized Service Through Personal Chef Services
Enrich yourself with convenience, health, and flavor.
Gift Cards For Chef Prepared Meals and Private Cooking Classes
Gift cards to personal chef prepared meals or cooking classes can make the perfect gift for any occasion.