For 27 years, Courtney Frasch dedicated her life to science. She earned a PhD in Microbiology and worked as a Senior Scientist as National Jewish Health. While in graduate school, Courtney discovered her love of cooking once realizing that it was very similar to her experiments: mix some ingredients together and observe the result.
After a milestone birthday and a retiring boss, Courtney hung up her lab coat. “It was time to feed this other passion,” Courtney says, pun intended.
That’s when Courtney started, PH[oo]D Specialist, a personal chef service for those needing help in the kitchen. The name of her business nods to her PhD, but Courtney isn’t educated in only microbiology: she also graduated culinary school in 2018, officially becoming a Chef.
The largest part of PH[oo]D Specialist is in-home meal prep, when Courtney goes to her clients’ homes and prepares their weekly meals. This service is popular among families, but Courtney also meal preps for some couples. Especially with more clients working from home, Courtney says it feels like she’s “cooking for [her] family.”
PH[oo]D Specialist also offers in-home cooking classes. Courtney’s goal is to teach clients how to successfully use their own kitchen equipment to prepare great food. Courtney’s favorite and most popular class is pasta making, where she teaches the class how to make a few different types of pasta and they all enjoy their homemade meal at the end.
Courtney wants people to know that having a personal chef is not an unreachable goal, but instead a great option for those who stress over cooking. Courtney works with her clients to fit their varying needs. She even offers meal prep plans for all diets from vegan to gluten-free. She even once prepared meals for a vegetarian-keto client!
When it comes down to it, Courtney is happy she made the switch from Petri dishes to dinner plates. “I want to create amazing food for people to enjoy,” Courtney says. In her expertise, food is good when everyone eating goes silent. May the PH[oo]D Specialist leave quiet tables in her meals to come.