The Ingredients to Success With Kathleen O’Brien Price

Kathleen O’Brien Price is from sunny Southern California. She is a graduate of both UC Berkeley and Le Cordon Bleu School of Culinary Arts. Following graduation from Le Cordon Bleu, Kathleen became a personal chef for a famous family in Hollywood, where she was affectionately nicknamed ‘Chefleen.’ After flourishing as a private chef, Kathleen started her own catering company, based in Culver City, California. She also consulted on the creation of several new menus, including an all-organic alehouse in Venice Beach. After conquering the west coast Kathleen moved to New York City, where she has continued as a private chef, splitting her time between clients in the city and the Hamptons.

Kathleen lives out loud and is a lover of both food and life. She is known for being free-spirited, passionate, and honest. Her words to live by are: freedom, serenity, and love. She looks and listens for the signs in the world. She is a very down-to-earth, sociable, and curious person who believes in squeezing the nectar out of life.

Kathleen knows that shopping and prepping to cook can, at times, be an overwhelming and daunting task. She knows that cooking is not as much fun for everyone as it is for her. Food is very personal for Kathleen and she does not believe that it is necessary to sacrifice flavor when shopping on a budget. She loves to pass on the secrets of making delicious and healthy meals while maintaining a fast-paced lifestyle. Her mission is to teach, to learn, and to inspire.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD AND HOW IT WAS GROWING UP?

Kathleen: I grew up in California, Southern California a little place called Moreno Valley which no one’s ever heard of but it’s in between LA and Palm Springs. In terms of food, it’s interesting because I feel like I just grew up very American; I’m Black and White but when someone asks, “what are you,” I always say I’m American. I feel like I really am just this American person. California is this mixing pot and I grew up eating Thai food and Mexican food and hamburgers and barbecue. Barbecue is a huge thing in our house because you can barbecue all year in Southern California. 

I love food. That left me a little lost in the food world as I became a chef because all these people on TV have specific foods they cook. For instance, this person cooks Indian food or this person cooks this kind of food and I feel like I cook everything. I feel as if that added to who I am but it also hurt me because I feel so lost, like mixed. I have a blog called “A Little Mixed Up” where I talk about like struggles of food and growing up. 

WHAT DID YOU STUDY AT UC BERKELEY?

Kathleen: Because my mom is a teacher, I went to a four-year college even though I wanted to go to culinary school right out of high school.

I sort of knew I wanted to be a chef in high school. I knew I loved food. I was passionate about it and it made me really excited, but like I said, my mom was a teacher so she was like no, you need to go to a real school. Which in hindsight, I’m very glad that I ended up going to UC Berkeley and I got a degree in Mass Communication. I thought I wanted to be a newscaster but my degree at UC Berkeley made me realize I hated the news because it’s all lies. It’s like all this theory and concept that you’re learning is controlled by so many people. 

I decided to go to culinary school for a diploma program which was like half the cost. I did five days a week, five hours a day for seven months in the kitchen. I loved it and was never sick one day, unlike college, where I missed a few classes.

I was in California and got a job with Will and Jada Smith as like a kitchen assistant. I worked there for two and a half years. After culinary school I was a little lost for a few weeks. I didn’t want to work in a restaurant. 

It was a big point of validation because older people were like, “What are you going to culinary school for?” Now my niece works for Will and Jada Smith.

TALK ABOUT YOUR PRIVATE CHEF CAREER AND REAL-LIFE COOKING?

Kathleen: Eight years after Will and Jada, I moved to New York when I was 25. It was another huge risk for me, I moved with nothing.

I was in LA and just packed three bags. I moved onto my best friend’s couch and I was like, “I’m going to live on your couch for three months. I’ll start paying you rent after three months but please give me those three months to get my life together because I have nothing.” 

Within a week I had a job as a broker. I had all these little random jobs just to make money and then by April I found a family that I ended up working for, for four years. I was private cheffing for them.