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PERSONAL CHEF CELEBRATES TEN YEARS

by Rosamond Cleary

Phyllis Segura is a personal chef who specializes in entertainment cooking. You could say her office is your kitchen.

While dinner parties are a forte, Chef Segura will also come to your home and whip up as many as 20 meals, which she calls her Five by Four plan. That’s enough food for a family of four for five nights, which can be put into a freezer and pulled out ready to warm and eat.

Chef Segura will work with the client to establish a menu, then shop, prepare, cook, serve and clean up — right in your home.

Segura was in the textile design and art world for years before deciding to try to put her skills and knowledge of herbs, cooking and entertaining to better use as Cooking on the River. She trained with chefs in Europe and the U.S.

“I’m a great gift,” says Segura. People are giving her service as gifts for spouses birthdays, new moms, people who are just getting out of the hospital and might not be able to cook for themselves for a while as well as for special occasions. She will come to your home for private cooking classes.

Last year Segura started Amore Baked Goods since her clients were all raving about her custom made oat-based cookies that are also available gluten-free and refined sugar-free.

Segura calls one of her special event services “Girls or Guys Night In.” Instead of having the gang all go out somewhere, the ladies (and guys) can have their special night right at home, with none of the work.

Segura said she has been doing some work for charitable organizations and that as word of her service spreads, she’s been able to serve an area from the lower Hudson River all the way up to Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Tarrytown and New York City. Segura also performs regular cooking demonstrations in local Rockland County libraries and teaches at BOCES in Nyack.

Chef Segura has a Web site for her service —www.cookingontheriver.com— and blog —www.cookingontheriver.blogspot.com  — or people interested in her services can call 845-365-0042.