As most destined things, the innate sense of one’s life objective tends to touch a person from an early age. For Sag Harbor resident and private chef Licia Householder, the cheffing bug hit her in high school.
At the time, the teenage Householder (née Kassim), then living with her family in Connecticut, was watching Food Network cooking shows religiously, testing out her extensively researched and methodically executed recipes on visiting friends.
“I found a recipe for this spaghetti pie from Martha Stewart,” the private chef, author and pastry extraordinaire says, “and all my friends were like, ‘oh wow, you’re really going to make this, aren’t you’ and I did, and it turned out pretty good!” Still, despite an unwavering interest in the culinary world, Householder says, “It didn’t seem possible to have a career in this.”
Coming from a long line of relatives working as teachers, Householder assumed she would follow suit. That was until her grandfather noticed her epicurean interest, and undeniable skill, and started guiding her on what to do with it. On his recommendation, Householder applied to the Culinary Institute of America a few months before graduation. “And I got in! And then immediately started sobbing with joy.”
After the two years it took to complete her culinary degree, Householder next finished her bachelor’s and remained after graduation for close to a year working as a teaching assistant at one of the campus’s acclaimed restaurants.
It was here that she found the world of pastry, or, as she puts it, “The pastry world kind of found me.”
No chef she was working with wanted to make dessert, she recalls, so she quickly learned. “I always thought the culinary aspect of cooking (as opposed to baking) served me better, but I started stepping into more pastry roles and I realized, ‘wow, I can really do this.’”
Almost a decade ago, Householder came to the Hamptons with the help of a friend who helped her secure a client in need of a private chef during the summers. Next, in 2016, she landed a job at the beloved, decades-old, Sagaponack-based food store Loaves & Fishes, working with owner Sybille Van Kempen initially as a pastry chef. In 2021, Householder and Van Kempen co-authored a series of cookbooks, the “Loaves & Fishes Farm Series,” featuring recipes based upon the bounty offered by East End-based farms and businesses.
Now, Householder is one of the premier private chefs of the Hamptons, specializing in meal prep and catering services as well as specialty cakes and desserts for nearly every occasion. With almost two decades of professional experiences — working in local restaurants and eateries as well as those located overseas — the wife and mother to two small children officially started her own private cheffing company last year.
With about a dozen or so clients she cooks for across the South Fork, Householder predominantly uses her Instagram handle to chronicle her culinary creations and drums up business through word of mouth.
Offerings for Householder’s menu run the gamut including vegan, gluten free and pescatarian options to meat, poultry and seafood based. She also makes a slew of hand-made artisanal hors d’oeuvres as well as nearly a half dozen family-style salad options. To check out more and to view some sample menus, click here. As far as pricing is concerned, Householder says it’s pretty much a “case by case” basis, though she does charge $175 an hour with a minimum of $1,800 for 10 people, plus the cost of food.
Also, there are her specialty cakes, of which she’s completed about 50 or so since her business “got catapulted” in 2020.
“Having kids definitely changed my world. I’ve basically always had two or three jobs working in restaurants and such,” she says. “But after kids I started thinking ‘what can I do to make it but still be able to keep my foot in the door for something I love doing?'”
As she’s done from the get-go, following her instincts has worked out to be a pretty foolproof recipe for Householder.
“My favorite thing about being a private chef is the freedom.”
