It takes some of us a long time to find and develop our purpose, but not Erica Wildberger of Frederick’s Set the Table.
“I always wanted to be a chef,” she says.
She loved to cook and provide meals for friends and neighbors as early as middle school, and after high school, she went straight to the Culinary Institute of America in New York to earn her culinary degree. With an additional interest in nutritious food and eating for health, she continued her education at the University of Maryland to become a registered dietician. She says that cooking, food, and menus are always on her mind, and with this innate sense of passion, there was never any question about where she would be dedicating her life.
Even so, her chef ambitions have always been a little different than many in her field, because she never wanted to get into restaurant work. Just as she used to cook in the homes of her neighbors, she says she’s “always loved the personal aspect of making a meal for someone,” and her personal chef business suits that perfectly. After several years spent in the catering industry, she started looking for a kitchen space in 2021. Set the Table, LLC was officially born in 2022.
The business, which now has commercial kitchen space and three part-time employees, offers weekly meal prep, private in-home personal chef services, and catering. Wildberger takes pride in building her menus from fresh ingredients with as many locally-sourced as possible. She elevates familiar and well-loved foods with high-quality ingredients and gourmet twists – on her weekly menus you may find entries as diverse as Cajun pepper shrimp, Italian steak salad, quinoa tabouleh, and BBQ pulled pork with mac and cheese.
Her rotating weekly menu selections can be ordered for delivery via her website, and she develops custom menus for her in-home personal chef clients.
A Passion for Food
One of Wildberger’s favorite things about what she does is the fact that it allows so much variety.
“I don’t cook the same thing over and over, and every catering opportunity is a new and different challenge,” she says.
She especially enjoys cooking seasonally, scoping out the best products, and highlighting key ingredients in her meals. Her favorite things to cook include seafood dishes, sauces, soups for winter, and fresh pasta.
“Really, though, I’m just trying to do a bit of everything, so that I’m always offering something people like,” she says.
Her most memorable catering experiences have happened when she’s sparked a real connection with a client and shared joy in the process of planning an event. Last fall, she says, she catered a baby shower for 50 guests where the theme was centered around the “cornucopia” look and a feeling of abundance. Wildberger loved the lush look of the table settings and enjoyed planning the brunch menu, which included chicken and waffles, quiche, and potato cakes, among other dishes. The client was equally excited. “I’m catering the baby’s first birthday party coming up,” Wildberger says.
The ”No-Diet Dietician”
As you might expect, Wildberger also brings her dietary training into her personal chef work, but her focus isn’t on restriction or approaching food in the way “diets” traditionally have.
“I consider myself the ‘no-diet dietician.’ The focus is on well-balanced meals with high-quality ingredients and a lot of nutritional content,” she says.
However, her training also allows her to work with clients who have special dietary needs, such as celiac disease or other conditions where a more restrictive diet is required. Wildberger helps these clients create delicious meal options that still adhere to their medical diet. She recognizes that without a certain level of cooking expertise, this can be very hard to achieve.
“Buying Back Their Own Time”
In terms of client service, Wildberger feels one of the largest benefits Set the Table provides is the ability for clients to “buy back their own time.”
“Getting fresh meals on the table takes an enormous amount of time,” Wildberger says. “You have to plan the meals, shop, prepare them, and deal with cleanup.”
Many of her clients are those who simply don’t have the time, desire, or ability to build this into their schedules, and so they rely on Set the Table to avoid sacrificing nutrition and taste. This can free up families to really enjoy dinnertime together, and serve clients who would otherwise turn to pick-up meals and unhealthy frozen or fast food.
Wildberger also provides value in the personal connection she builds with in-home chef and catering clients, and the customization she’s able to provide for their menus and events.
From a young age, she’s had a dream that’s simple but impactful, and with her work she makes it happen every day: “I just want to help more people eat better food.” SetTheTableLLC.com
“I just want to help more people eat better food.”
“The focus is on well-balanced meals with high-quality ingredients and a lot of nutritional content.”