Chef who feeds Penn State students makes summer shift, helping families with meals

During the school year, you can find Shavonne Hart working as a personal chef in Penn State fraternity homes. During the summer, though, her clientele shifts. A year ago, looking for a way to fill her off months, she launched Chef Shavonne, an in-home private chef service that’s proved popular with busy families and those who either can’t or don’t want to cook.

“I still wanted to bring good food to people [during the summer],” Hart said. “Sometimes, especially in these times, people are so busy. They don’t have time to cook healthy, delicious meals for their families.”

Now, beyond keeping up a full roster of clients when school’s out of session, Hart, who attended the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology’s culinary arts program, also serves a limited client base in the fall and winter, and she hopes to make Chef Shavonne a full-time endeavor in the future.

The comprehensive Chef Shavonne experience starts with a consultation, during which Hart and potential clients discuss matters like client preferences, dietary requirements and needed services, with base services starting at $50 per meal, inclusive of an entrée and two sides that can feed up to six people. Hart puts together menus for the client, does the grocery shopping, arrives at the client’s home on designated days, cooks at least three meals that the client can then enjoy later in the week, and cleans up before leaving.

Hart describes her cooking style as comfort food-focused, while also incorporating international cuisines such as Latin, Italian, Greek or Indian.

“It’s food that just makes you feel good,” she said. “It’s something your mom would make or your family made.”

Past client menus have included meals like crispy chicken with blistered courgettes, herby green sauce and pearl couscous; salmon with creamy spinach orzo; and meatball parm with pasta and salad.

During the initial client consultation, Hart will tour a client’s kitchen and, if needed, will bring along extra equipment to a cooking session, like her Instant Pot. If clients choose to do their own grocery shopping, she’ll also provide them with a shopping list that includes all the ingredients needed for their preferred meals.

Compared to her work feeding Penn State students, Hart calls her experience since starting Chef Shavonne more personal.

“I get to be a part of people’s journeys,” she said. “I had a couple that I started working with in October, because she was pregnant for the first time and it was becoming more difficult for her to cook. Now, her baby’s six months old and we’re starting to wean off me cooking for them because she’s able to get back in the kitchen. It’s nice helping people through different times and seasons of their lives.”

Chef Shavonne currently has limited client spots available for the summer. In addition to offering regular, ongoing personal chef services, Hart also offers one-off services for small groups of no more than 10 people, for special occasions such as dinner parties or at-home date nights. Consultations can be booked by reaching out via Facebook, at www.facebook.com/shavonne.hart.2025.