Personal Chef in Apex, NC
Apex calls itself the Peak of Good Living. For a lot of families here, the good living happens between school drop-off, practice, two jobs and a late dinner nobody had time to plan.
Our chefs come to your kitchen in Apex once a week, shop, cook the week’s meals and clean up. The question of what’s for dinner is already answered.
The Travelling Cafe is a collective of personal and private chefs based in Chapel Hill and cooking across the Triangle and beyond.
Life in Apex
Apex grew up as a railroad town, and the 1914 Apex Union Depot still anchors the historic Salem Street district. The town comes together for PeakFest every May and for the Peak City Pig Fest barbecue contest.
It is a town built around family life, and a chef in your kitchen gives some of those evenings back to you.
What we cook in Apex
Many Apex households have one person who eats differently: a parent on a GLP-1, a child with a restricted diet, a spouse on AIP. We build one menu the whole family eats, with the restricted version as the default, so nobody gets a separate plate.
Weekly meal prep. Between school drop-off and practice, a chef comes to your kitchen once a week, shops, cooks a week of meals to your plan, labels everything and cleans up. One all-in price. Groceries are included.
Dinner parties. A family celebration without the family doing the cooking. We plan the menu with you, then cook, serve and clean up.
Private cooking classes. Cooking lessons in your own kitchen that the kids can join.
Special diets. We cook to the plan your clinician or dietitian set, for GLP-1, AIP, low-FODMAP, diabetic, paleo, keto, athletes and more. Every dietary need, same price. See all the special diets we cook.
Meet some of our chefs
Chefs Bruce and Crene come from nearby Raleigh, and Leslie, who founded the collective, from Chapel Hill. Every chef in the collective cooks all over the Triangle and beyond, so the chefs on this page are a few of the many who can cook for you. We match you with the one who fits your household.
Chef Bruce Pressey
Based in Raleigh
Bruce attended Le Cordon Bleu in France and has spent decades in professional kitchens.
Leslie Chartier
Founder, based in Chapel Hill
Leslie founded The Travelling Cafe. Her gift is translating global cuisines into limiting diets, so anyone with food allergies or health conditions can still enjoy the food of the world.
Chef Crene Manishimwe
Based in Raleigh
Born in Tanzania to Burundian parents, Crene’s passion for food began in a small kitchen alongside both parents.
How it works
- Tell us how you eat. Fill out our food questionnaire: your plan, any restrictions, and what you love.
- Meet your chef. We match you with a chef from the collective.
- Open the fridge. Your chef shops, cooks in your kitchen, labels everything and cleans up.
Start with the food questionnaire
Frequently asked questions
Do you cook in Apex?
Yes. Apex is part of our regular service area.
Can you cook for a family where one person has a restricted diet?
Yes. We build one menu everyone eats, with the restricted version as the default.
Can the meals work for kids?
Yes. Tell us what your kids will and won’t eat on the food questionnaire and your chef cooks to it.
How much does it cost?
Weekly meal prep is one all-in price with groceries included, and every dietary need is the same price. Fill out our food questionnaire and we will send the plan that fits your household.
We also cook in Raleigh, Cary, Wake Forest, Morrisville, Fuquay-Varina, Pittsboro, Durham, plus Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough.
Questions? Get in touch.
With you at the table.