ABOUT

Get to Know Me

Hi! My name is Veronica Eicken, but you also might know me as Chefv707 from my social media handles, or as my family and friends call me, V. Lucky for you I answer to all of them!

I’m so glad you are here. As a private chef in Sonoma County for over 17 years, my passion is helping others reach their goals in all things culinary, whether that is with my one-on-one consulting services, my newsletter with exclusive recipes and tips, or creating fun and entertaining videos on my social media platforms for my followers to eat up each week.

How did it all start?

My interest in food began as a little girl growing up in Sonoma County, California, watching what few cooking shows were on every Saturday and Sunday morning, and following around whoever would tolerate me in the kitchen. Even though I didn’t have a particular mentor who took me under their wing with cooking, I was still so drawn to the process of cooking and what it meant to be a chef; it was just something inside of me for as long as I can remember. All this led me to a summer long cooking course for youth at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco when I was just 14 years old. This was back in 1995 when cooking wasn’t as on trend as it is now… so I didn’t make very many friends at school for this. But even still, I sure am glad I stayed true to myself and stayed the course.

After high school (1999), I did a two year culinary program at Santa Rosa Junior College, and then moved to San Francisco to attend (again) the California Culinary Academy to further round out my education. I graduated from that 2 year program in December of 2003.

After a few years working in restaurants, hotels, casinos and catering companies, I was ready to strike out on my own and open my own Personal Chef and small Catering company which I called “A Gift of Thyme”. After a couple years of doing that full time, one of my clients asked me to stay on with them full time as their private chef, and there I stayed for 17 years.

It was in that tenure I cooked for many high profile clients and celebrities, and was even hired on the side by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios to do small private events for them. Needless to say, I gained so much knowledge about how to retain client satisfaction when the stakes and expectations are high, and how to do it all in the absence of the stable infrastructure a restaurant or catering company provide – no easy feat.

California Culinary Academy 1995

Being a Private Chef for that long gave me invaluable knowledge and experience. That, coupled with my passion for teaching, made me realize that it only made sense to pursue creating a platform in which to teach others not only how to be more successful in the kitchen, but also how to become a successful personal or private chef.

Today, I can be found in my Sonoma County kitchen recipe developing for my newsletter, filming instructional videos for my social media channels, holding private consultations, cooking for private clients and events, and teaching as many people about food and cooking as I can possibly get to listen to me.

I hope you will pull up a seat to my kitchen counter, get comfortable and stay awhile. Together, we can make this world a more delicious place.

Whisky whisky mixy mixy,

Chef V xx

In the Media

Guy’s Grocery Games:
Guy’s Grocery Games Tournament of Champions: Meet the Competitors
What to Watch: Guy’s Grocery Games’ Tournament of Champs Finale and the Premiere of Cupcake Wars Kids

Press Democrat:
Santa Rosa TikTok chef shares ideas for easy summer meals
Social media influencers from Sonoma and Napa Counties

US News:

Best vegetable choppers

Bohemian:
Sonoma Scone Company puts fresh pastry in your oven

LifeHacker:
Blend Spent Citrus Rinds Into a Cocktail Syrup

The Kitchn:
The One Thing You Should Be Doing with Your Leftover Lime Rinds

ABOUT

Get to Know Me

Chef V xx

In the Media

My Partners