PERSONAL CHEF'S FOR THE STARS:
CHEF T
CHEF BRITT/INFO COMING SOON
Terrondus Chaney was born May 27, 1974 in Champaign, Illinois, the second eldest of six children. His mother, Johnnie, was Mississippi-born to the culinary heritage of the Deep South. During the 60's, she migrated with her family to the North in what history recounts as the largest pilgrimage from Mississippi to the state of Illinois. Johnnie preserved the culture and the cuisine that were the roots of her native state.
This was her legacy to her son, Terrondus. To learn the skills, the flavors, and the richness of down-home cooking at its finest. His first lessons in the kitchen were simple and basic: cleaning fish. Catfish, bluegill, and carp. Diligent with his tasks, he also prepared vegetables from the home garden. He was eleven when family breakfast became his short-order specialty. French toast, a variety of omelettes, and the young chef's favorite -- almond-butter toast crunch were the usual bill of fare.
The required home economics courses in middle school, loathed by most pre-teen males, proved to be his favorite when the topic was food. Italian cooking was a newfound flavor and he later discovered the recipes of South America, particularly Brazil, during high school.
His first job in the industry was at a fast-food diner: Steak 'n' Shake. There he learned the law and layout of the back kitchen as a busboy and dishwasher. He was clearly at square one. Terrondus was hired as a cook at McDonald's in Urbana, Illinois, but it didn't hold the challenge he was offered during his part-time tenure at his aunt's catering business. Weddings, parties, and large company picnics gave him the opportunity to develop his skills and creativity. True to his Southern background, he was tutored in open-pit pig and goat roasts and preparing rabbit and pheasant during the hunting season.
Thinking that his passion for cooking would not provide him lucrative employment, he set an agenda for formal training in computer science and attended Blackburn University and Parkland Community College in Illinois. Terrondus moved to California in January of 1994. Continuing to pursue his education, he needed to qualify for financial aid and landed a job at Paolina Boxing Club in West Los Angeles. The boxing forum presented a dichotomy of events that ensured his original path.
At the club, Terrondus met athletes who required special diets to keep them at the peak of their performance. An amateur and professional boxer himself, he was instrumental in developing dietary regimens for their special requirements. He knew what worked for him and he knew it could work for others. He took his custom-designed diets to the clients as their trainer and personal dietician. The results were well received.
It seemed as though he were back at square one again when he enrolled in the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena at the urging of his uncle, Dr. Frank Gomez, a key administrator in Environmental Health for Los Angeles County. September of 1999 was a turning point in Terrondus' life. He donned a chef's uniform and faced the challenges of professional culinary training.
The blood, sweat, and tears of full-time schooling were combined with golden moments: assisting in Wolfgang Puck's kitchen at the world-famous Academy Awards banquet; working at the California Winemasters benefit at Paramount Studios in Hollywood.
Terrondus' income was supplemented with full-time employment at Republic Uniform in Los Angeles and later supervising the front desk and kitchen at the Marriot Residence Inn in Beverly Hills. He graduated from CSCA in December 2000, and new opportunities developed.
Enriched by a background with deep Southern roots, solid experience in the kitchens, and formal accredited training, Terrondus is no longer at square one. Richer for the experience, better for the training, and hungry for the challenge the next opportunity offers.
