Chef Tom’s passion for cooking started at a young age helping his mother with the nightly dinners in their family’s suburban New York home. His professional experience started in his teen years as an apprentice shucking clams and oysters at a local seafood/steak house, with his career in the food service industry taking off from there.

Chef Thomas Barker’s resume includes:
• Graduate Culnary Institute of America – Hyde Park, New York 
• St Charlie’s – Wall Street, New York 
• Indian Harbor Yacht Club – Greenwich Connecticut
• Belle Haven Country Club – Greenwich, Connecticut 
• Hilton Hotels – Westchester, New York
• Heavenly Valley Resort- South Lake Tahoe, California
• Chart House –Westchester, New York; Stateline, Nevada 
• Riva Grill – Lake Tahoe, California

Most recently, a Prepared Foods Team Leader and Chef for Whole Foods Market, catering to the health conscious, all natural clientele.
• Whole Foods Market – White Plains, New York
• Whole Foods Market – Napa, California

His diverse background has enabled him to focus his fine dining skills with nutritional and a healthier style of vegan/vegetarian cooking. This enables him to serve up meals that not only look and taste great, but helps his clients achieve any personal dietary goals they may have, from weight loss to lowering their blood pressure, cholesterol and sugars without the use of medication.

We are fortunate to be living in an area of the world where fresh produce is in abundance and there are more farms in our backyard than we can count. He is committed to taking advantage of this wonderful gift and ONLY uses all natural products – no artificial preservatives, no nitrites/nitrates, no nothing!Always looking for ways to cut down fats, sodium and sugars without sacrificing any flavor, utilizing fresh herbs and all natural alternatives.

“You are what you eat” is truly a philosophy that Chef  Tom not only preaches but practices. All produce, meat and poultry come from farms that follow responsible/sustainable farming practices – many that Chef Barker himself has personally visited and verified. He always compares products from different markets, purveyors and local sources to find the freshest and highest quality available, because if your recipe starts with an inferior product, how can you make it into a superior dish?

10 to 12 hours a week is the average amount of time dedicated towards dinner for the average household. Life is short, but you can get that time back using the services provided by the “Napa Valley Personal Chef”, and at the same time ensuring you and your family are eating fresh, well balanced, nutritional meals.