International Chef

Woman takes culinary skills around the globe

Her business card reads Nancy Kelly-Travelling Chef. And has she ever put on the frequent flyer miles!

Kelly, who owns a 40-acre farm in Larks Lake, is well known in culinary circles. She has her own catering business ands teaches cooking classes wherever her clients ask her to tote her knives and bring her talents.

A self-taught chef, Kelly, originally from Chicago, moved to Northern Michigan in 1977. Cooking is in her blood. Kelly’s father and sister were interested in French cuisine and have taken numerous classes.

Kelly landed a job as an assistant to Stacia Smith, former owner of Leo’s Bar in Petoskey. Smith taught her all about the art of Polish cooking and sparked her interest in the culinary arts.

Kelly, who intended to stay only for the summer, ended up staying for many years, until 1989 to be exact. She furthered her cooking knowledge by subscribing to different culinary magazines. Friends were her guinea pigs, as she prepared many dinners for them.

“I love to entertain,” she said.

When asked by Tapawingo owner, Harlan Peterson, if she would work for him, Kelly immediately jumped at the chance. The Ellsworth restaurant has since honored her by using some of her recipes on their menu.

But Kelly wanted more challenges and experiences in the culinary world, so she moved to Paris and apprenticed with chef John Desmond from LaVarenne cooking school. With Desmond, she taught cooking classes and eventually went on to take over his business when he moved on to do other projects.

“I was a little tentative about teaching at first,” said Kelly.

But she got over her nerves and went on to establish a highly successful business of her own. As she conducted cooking lessons, her pupils, who were usually wives of United States embassy officials stationed in Paris, wondered where she purchased the amazingly fresh and unusual ingredients she uses.

Kelly came up with the idea of taking her pupils on tours of her favorite markets, cafes, and specialty stores. In Europe, unlike America, people don’t have stores like Meijer’s where they can get every type of item under the sun. There, shoppers have to visit bakeries, butcher shops, produce markets and fish markets separately.

So Kelly began to take culinary groups around to her favorite marketing spots. The tours are quite successful and she will continue them with each trip she makes back to Paris.

She also caters parties of all kinds in Northern Michigan, the Chicago area, and Paris. Kelly will come into your home and cook magnificent meals for just about any occasion. With the help of assistants, she will create meals of many courses sure to delight everyone.

Her current assistant is Pascal Larrere, who is a native of France. He is currently with Kelly in Northern Michigan for the summer helping her, as her current summer schedule is heavily booked.

Past clients include Euro Disney, NASA, the American Embassy, the South African Embassy and General Electric. Kelly said one year the General Electric Thanksgiving party fell victim to some sneaky burglars who scaled walls to sneak away with partygoer’s fur coats and other valuables.

She shares these anecdotes with her cooking classes and tour groups. Kelly has lived in many different conditions in Paris, from the home of a count and countess, to a dorm-like room where she had to cook on a two-burner portable stove.

Kelly didn’t speak a word of French when she arrived overseas. It took seven months of hard work and classes, but now she is fluent. The kindness of strangers helped her get through difficult times while she was in Paris. her experiences have been so positive that she still spends a great deal of time traveling to Paris to visit friends and to teach.

“I’m trying not to travel through, I love it here,” she said. “We have a full season for the rest of the summer in Northern Michigan.”

Kelly is not sure where her future travels will take her. She hopes to be in San Francisco sometime this summer preparing a dinner. And she’s heading back to Paris in October.

She said, “I just go where the calls come in from.”

Erin MacDonald
Petoskey News-Review
July 24, 1997

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Pellston, Michigan 49769-0577

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