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Private chef’s business is booming

BY ASHLYN ROBINETTE

GSN Contributor

Business is booming for Chef William Turner, a private chef whose work is the subject of a documentary.

The documentary, “Cooking on Camelback,” is to air on Channel 7 then be available on Amazon.

“If you love food and if you love the underdog, then you should be excited,” said Turner of the documentary, which looks at what it takes to be a private chef.

Turner started his culinary journey in South Carolina two decades ago, then traveled from coast to coast as an executive chef with extensive experience in casual dining, fine dining and banquets until settling in Gilbert.

“I wouldn’t be here without the support that I’ve gotten in the Valley,” he said. “People have opened doors for me… I’ve been welcomed and it’s an honor.”

Turner, 42, moved to Arizona in 2017. Without any business contacts in the Valley, he wasn’t sure what was next in store.

He decided to start his own private chef business in December 2017, focusing primarily on affluent homes in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. “I got on a borrowed computer, quickly launched my website and Yelp and ordered business cards,” Turner said. “At 8 a.m. the next morning, my phone rang and it was my first client.”

At the time, Turner didn’t even own a car, so he had to take Lyft rides to his clients’ homes.

“I took a bus down Scottsdale Road, got off at Fashion Square Mall with a pocketful of business cards and started walking around, passing out my business cards,” he recalled. “The first place I went into was Optima and three days later they called me up and hired me.”

Flash forward almost four years later. Turner recently started doing his cooking out of a professional kitchen in Chandler and has cooked for more than 1,000 private parties since he launched his business, which continues to grow every week. He has been featured in multiple publications and appeared over 40 times on popular TV shows between Tucson and Phoenix. He also maintains a strong social media presence as well as a five-star rating across all platforms. Turner’s specialty is in-home private events for any occasion or destination, but he is best known for working Scottsdale-area bachelorette parties. Women around the world fly to Arizona to specifically hire Turner as their chef for private events.

The rule of the bachelorette party weekend is simple: “No Men Allowed”

- except for Chef Turner! I joke with the girls, you said ‘I do’ just so that I’d cook for you, didn’t you?” Turner chuckled. The chef attributes his popularity with the ladies to his southern charm and hospitality as well as the fact that women plan their bachelorette parties well in advance. They are already trying to book him for 2023. “Whenever I do my job, I do it well,” he said. “I give these girls an experience Chef William Turner has found his services in great demand at private home gatherings, particularly when they won’t forget in a fun, it comes to bachelorette parties. (Courtesy of Chef Turner) safe environment. They know that they’re going to get great food and that whatever needs they have will be taken care of by my team and I.” In addition to bringing on new chefs to help him handle the large volume of business, Turner also works with an experienced group of servers, bartenders and event coordinators. When he enters homes, he prepares five-star meals on demand that meet any request or dietary need. His cuisine is wide-ranging, often entwined with a southern flare. Clients are welcome to interact and watch Turner cook, or they can relax until dinner is served. “Cooking gives you an instant family and group of friends,” he said. “It keeps me busy and gives me a purpose.” Turner is the preferred chef for many politicians, athletes, musicians and Chef William Turner of Gilbert moved to Arizona in 2017 other celebrities staying in the Valley. and has parlayed his skill in the kitchen into a thriving busi- “You name it and I’ve cooked for them,” ness. (Special to GSN) he said. “I never know who’s going to contact me. I meet so many people and I could tell you a story about every single one of them.” see CHEF page 19

Turner was 14 when he started his career.

Inside the hot, bustling kitchen of a local seafood restaurant in South Carolina, he peeled shrimp, cut fish and washed dishes. The cook there notoriously missed work, so after only two weeks into his first job, Turner was pulled from dishes and prep work and promoted to the grill.

“I got bit by the bug,” he said. “It happened almost instantly and I don’t think I realized it. I fell in love with cooking.”

By 16, he entered the fast food business and within six months was the manager of an eatery where he was given much more responsibility than the average teen and quickly learned tough lessons about the industry.

“In hindsight, I had no business running a restaurant,” he laughed. Turner helped open a new McDonalds in his hometown and had to train 80 employees. Amid a high turnover, he worked 24 hours straight. “It was trial by fire,” he said.

Turner soon left the fast food industry because it was too controlled and he sought more creative freedom. So, he took on fine dining.

“In two weeks, I went from the salad guy to the guy cooking the steaks,” he said.

Turner worked in steakhouses for about eight years, then bounced around other corporate restaurants until he was almost 30.

Then, he was brought in as sous-chef at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. The executive chef left a few months after Turner started, so he was given the position of executive chef and assistant event coordinator.

Simultaneously he was studying business in college, so he took a step down to work at the DeBordieu Club in Georgetown, South Carolina, as sous-chef.

After that, Turner left South Carolina and spent years as an executive traveling chef, running restaurants from New Orleans to Wyoming.

“All those years were long hours,” he said. “When you’re really good in the kitchen, they ride you like a thoroughbred. It catches up with you, so a lot of chefs burn out… There’s so much pressure and responsibility.”

Turner wanted a change of scenery, so when he saw photos of Yellowstone National Park, he immediately googled “cooking chef jobs in Yellowstone” and sent his resume to the first thing that popped up.

Turner was hired, took a pay cut and went to Pahaska Tepee Resort in Yellowstone for four months.

It was such a wonderful experience he tried to recreate his experience in different places, including Colorado and Montana.

He had a stop in New Orleans, where he took a break from the national park circuit and became executive banquet chef at the Chateau Golf & Country Club.

“I already had fast food experience, then I went into fine dining, then banquets,” Turner said. “Banquets were the final piece of the puzzle for me.”

He often cooked for hundreds of guests at a time, most memorably at the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame Golf Tournament.

Once he was in Arizona, Turner had no idea what was next in store for him until his family in Tucson talked about Scottsdale.

“I heard it was a very spiritual city,” Turner said. “I felt like I needed some healing. I needed to be around people who could elevate me.”

He had planned on staying for only a couple of weeks but fell in love with the East Valley. He was exposed to yoga and meditation techniques.

“I feel like people like me from the South and small towns set limits for ourselves and what we can achieve,” he said. “I had to rewire that so that I could feel like I could achieve more.”

Turner focused on himself and dabbled in catering until launching his private chef business in December 2017.

Turner hopes to launch his own charity one day as he is passionate about education and bringing high quality food to people in low-income areas. “My goal is to eventually get to the point where I can give back,” Turner said. “I want to focus on helping other people.”

Information: chefwilliamturner.com.

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