Why Avery ‘Chef AP’ Peterson Made Learning His Lifestyle

INSIDE Monthly was pleased to speak with Avery Peterson to learn about his journey from cooking at small family gatherings to becoming a highly sought after personal chef. In this exclusive interview with INM, Chef AP talks about his culinary influences, his approach toward sourcing ingredients, and what it takes to succeed in private dining.

Where were you born, and what was your childhood like?

(Chef AP): I was born in Galveston, Texas, but I spent most of my life in Sugar Land, which is on the southwest side of Houston. That experience definitely fueled my desire to learn to cook because, around the house, whether with my mom or my dad, we were always making meals or dinners together as a family.

What’s the worst thing you ever did as a child?

(Chef AP): The worst thing I ever did as a child… I think my mom and dad would say I was a pretty good kid overall, so I didn’t do too many bad things. But in my younger years, the worst thing I probably did was get in a dog’s face. My dad was very serious about not doing that. Oh, and not crossing the street safely—running into traffic was another thing I was scolded for. But, for the most part, I was a good kid.

How were you different as a teenager compared to today?

(Chef AP): Wow. As a teenager, I was much more timid, like most of us are at that age. I was trying to figure out who I was and how I fit in. There were a lot of things I was interested in, but I wasn’t sure which path would become my career. I was spread across sports, academics, and other activities. Now, I’m more confident in who I am. I have a better understanding of what it means to have self-confidence and stand up for what you believe in. I’ve grown into a person who has things I stand for and represent.

How would you describe your college experience?

My college experience was everything to me. I attended North Carolina A&T, an HBCU here locally. Being adopted, attending an HBCU really taught me to love my Blackness. I can honestly say I didn’t fully understand what that meant until I went there. The diversity in thought, personalities, passions, and backgrounds was incredible. I don’t know if I would be doing what I’m doing now if I hadn’t gone to A&T and met the people I did, or had the experiences that shaped who I am today.

What do you remember about the pandemic?

(Chef AP): The pandemic was interesting. Before it hit, I had just started my first private chef position in the Raleigh-Durham area with a family. I was on a retainer, working Monday through Thursday, cooking for their daughter and other family members. When the pandemic happened, everything shut down, and I had to come back to Greensboro. I didn’t know what I was going to do. Restaurants were closed, people were scared, but from that uncertainty, the travel chefing part of my business was born. Places like Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with strict COVID guidelines, still had clients who wanted private chef services in their homes. That’s how the travel aspect of my business took off during the pandemic.

What do you think about the growth of Charlotte and Raleigh?

(Chef AP): I absolutely love it. I used to live in Greensboro, but now I’m based in the Raleigh-Durham area. I moved because there’s a lot of biotech, biomedical, and pharmaceutical money here. Plus, Apple is coming to Raleigh, which is huge, especially for the type of business I run. Charlotte is great too, especially for young Black professionals fresh out of college, looking to settle down or start a family. There’s a strong, thriving Black community there. You get that metro, downtown feel with the sports teams. Overall, I think North Carolina is a wonderful place to live, build a business, and start a family. Raleigh and Charlotte are definitely leading cities for those things.

So, when did you decide you wanted to cook professionally?

(Chef AP): To be honest with you, the way that I describe it is kind of a gradual revelation. When I was younger, I enjoyed cooking, like I said, with my family. I’m adopted, but my mom’s side of the family is Italian-American, like second generation. So, I grew up making pasta from scratch, the Sunday gravy from scratch, doing all of that around the holidays. That’s where it initially started, but as I got older, I got into middle school and high school, played sports and wanted to hang out with girls. Especially after my mom passed away, I didn’t really want to cook as much. So probably all throughout, until my sophomore year of college, I really wasn’t doing it that much.

You move off campus, you get a girlfriend, and you want to be the guy who does that kind of thing. From doing box pastas and frozen tilapia, I started working at the Fresh Market. Working around that quality of groceries and things—I never grew up eating U10 scallops or prime steak. I had a discount, so me being able to work there kind of fueled the passion for what I was doing. I wasn’t in school anymore at the time, so I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

Honestly, from selling plates and doing little local private dinners, I figured out that this is what I wanted to do. I was extremely passionate about it, and somehow, someway, even though I didn’t at all know what it was going to look like, I wanted to try to figure out a way to be a chef as a career path.

How has your knowledge of ingredients grown since then?

(Chef AP): Since I started my business? Okay, so the knowledge of ingredients is very, very important for my business. One thing that I pride myself on, probably more than anything else outside of execution, is sourcing. So, making sure that I’m getting the best and highest-quality ingredients possible. And I think anybody who’s booked my services will tell you that what I use reflects that. I’m making sure that I’m getting the highest-quality, highest-grade steak. I’m hand-picking, hand-selecting those things.

When it comes to shellfish, I offer a plethora of different places where we can source different things from, different kinds and varieties. So, for me, ingredients and making sure that I have the highest-quality proteins are really essential.

Where have you been able to travel so far in your career?

(Chef AP): So, the places I’ve traveled in my career… I think at this point, I’ve done 35-plus major cities. I’ve done events in Phoenix, Seattle, Los Angeles, Las Vegas. I’ve been to Rye, New Hampshire, Maine, Florida several times, Texas, New Orleans. Pretty much, I wouldn’t say all the major cities on the Eastern Seaboard, but I’ve done events in New York, Philly, DMV heavy. So, God’s really blessed my business tremendously. We service all major cities, as well as cabin trips and things like that. So, I’ve been all over.

What would you cook if you were invited by the president?

(Chef AP): Whew. It depends on which president, but outside of that, if I had one meal to cook, I’d probably make it a surf and turf. That’s definitely my specialty. I would probably want to do a prime ribeye dinner with steakhouse sides. So really, any kind of high-end side that you can get at a steakhouse, the AP version of it—that’s what I’m going to do.

Do you think it’s better to be versatile or have a niche?

(Chef AP): Hmm. Is it better to be versatile or to have a niche? Well, I think that if you’re a private chef, you’re going to have a niche. It’s going to be different depending on the kind of demographic or clientele that you want to attract. I definitely think that showing that you have a large base of different food groups or execution styles is beneficial.

For me, initially when I started my business, especially since I’m self-taught, I wanted to learn as much as possible. Right now, the focus is on the fine dining, higher-end side of things. But I think it’s important to be versatile at the beginning, to gain competence and confidence in the kitchen. Then, once you know what you’re good at and where the demand is, you can find your niche for what you want to appeal toward. If you want to grow your business, having that niche will give you focus.

Who is the best-dressed person in your family?

The best-dressed member of my family would probably be my little sister. She’s definitely into fashion, and she’s worked in retail for a great deal of her life, so she’s always shopping and styling something new.

Who is at the top of your punch-in-the-face list?

(Chef AP): Who’s at the top of my punch-in-the-face list? Probably nobody. I’m a pretty live-and-let-live kind of person. I do have a bit of a temper, but it’s more verbal than anything else. No one at the moment, probably as a result of me being single. But if I had to choose someone, probably Diddy.

What are the goals for your brand over the next few years?

(Chef AP): The goals for my brand over the next two to three years is to expand into a dinner party series. Something that either I’m hosting in different cities, venue locations, rentals or just doing wine tasting dinners. More for course to menu things that really emphasize not just local brands and ingredients but worldwide. Some of the best stuff that I work with combined with vineyards and local wineries and things like that to just really make some elevated events, not just you know for people that are well off, but for anybody who really wants to experience finer dining or just higher restaurant quality food.