Meet Stephanie Cmar | Private Chef & Culinary Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephanie Cmar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie Cmar, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I am not nor have never been risk averse, fear yes, risk…no. Early in my career I made a choice. I could consume myself with the shallower things, popularity, money, power or I could say yes to every opportunity that came by, regardless of its connotations. I had a 5 second rule. if the possibility sounded promising, interesting or rewarding, I would blindly say yes. I said yes to a lot of things I probably shouldn’t have, but in the end, every little yes got me to where I am now.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Am I an artist/creative?

Sometimes the most daunting question is the most straight forward. I am an artist. I create approachable and disposable works of art. Food is supposed to capture all of the senses, you can hear, taste, see, feel, etc.

Getting to where I am professionally has been very similar to putting one soaking wet sock in the dryer and watching it spin around until it dings.

I fell in love with cooking before I knew what love was. I was infatuated with the sounds and speed, not realizing that there was a whole world of ingredients. Getting to the space I am now on the other hand took a lot of blind faith and those “yes’s” that I was describing.

I wasn’t a stand out culinary student, kind of a shit head line cook, and finally once I got promoted to my first job as sous chef, I started finding my footing.

TV changes a lot of things, more than I can write in a paragraph, but I have no regrets. Going on TV propelled my career in ways I cant explain. It isnt for everyone but I thrived. Challenge after challenge has presented themselves sent but I truly love what I do. The challenges make me a stronger chef.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Now, I am a neighborhood-body. what I mean by this is that I loathe being more than 15 minutes from my apartment. Now, you may be thinking, how do you spend a week in one neighborhood, but this is NYC. The lower east side to me is perfection. its gritty, weird, edgy, gentle, green, neon…I love it. I found my apartment on Facebook marketplace but that is a story for another day….anyways, I would divide the week up by eating.

Monday: Coffee Shops (Black Cat LES, the hideout chai bar, Froth…)
Tuesday: Thai (thai diner, fish cheeks, betong – Khao man Gai)
Wednesday: Dumplings (Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings, Kings County Imperial)
Thursday: Pizza (scarrs, square pizza, rays)
Friday: French (le French diner)
Saturday: Dive Bar (joey roses, black crescent)
Sunday: Pastries (moon..something or other, Clinton Street Baking Company.

The best thing about the LES is that everyone is cool. The laundry guy JC, hes super cool. Philippe the French American heavy Metalist, hes the shit. You cant walk around with out finding fabulous people near by.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The culinary world is interesting, if you are not chosen to be mentored, you may find yourself floundering.

I don’t have a culinary mentor both by choice and circumstance. quite frankly, I wasn’t chosen which meant that I was on my own. Learning has never been my thing but cooking and food always have. My brain has a separate section just to absorb, curate and create food. I understand food and cooking like the back of my hand and it is thanks to heroes I’ve never met.

Every night before I fall asleep I read a little of MFK Fishers “the art of eating”. In the morning I scour the NYT both digitally and in print for restaurant reviews, cooking techniques and trends. I am hungry for the knowledge of food. How it works, how it blends, how it brings people together.

If anyone deserves recognition for the success of my career, it’s me. im not a snot or a princess but only one person got me to where I am now.

Instagram: @stephaniecmar

Linkedin: @Stephaniecmar

Twitter: @stephaniecmar

Youtube: @myshittylittlekitchen

Image Credits
Photos by: Bobby Zec
www.studios7media.com