Meet Chef Steven

Hello!
 
My name is Chef Steven Ferneding, and I provide luxury personal chef services while sharing my passion for traveling and the culinary arts.
 
My culinary journey over the last ten years has taken me on cooking adventures to over 46 countries. My career has provided me the opportunity to circumnavigate the world three times. This has allowed me to truly experience the delicacies of every culture I visit.


After receiving my degree in International Business from Arizona State University, I attended Le Cordon Bleu in Portland, OR where I graduated with honors at the top of my class. After graduation, I worked in a premier seafood restaurant in San Diego, before venturing to the Bahamas and the Caribbean to cook on the world's most prestigious yachts as well as celebrities homes.


Over the eight years at sea, I gained a reputation in the yachting industry as being a healthy, gourmet chef and was featured in international yachting magazines and industry publications. I had a desire to discover more of the flavors of the world and went in search of new ingredients. I moved to India, to start my culinary education in Indian and Southeast Asian cuisine. For a year and a half, I traveled throughout India and S.E. Asia and cooked traditional meals with the locals in their homes. I spent three of those months, climbing the glaciers in the Himalayan Mountains in Nepal.


As I was making my descent at 17,600 ft from the Base Camp of Mt. Everest, I came up with an idea for a global culinary initiative. From this idea, I created, produced, and hosted an international travel cooking series called Trading Dishes, that we filmed over 93 days in Nepal, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Bali. While on location in a village in western Nepal, I learned thousand-year-old recipes, prepared vegetable omelets in a mud hut, and cooked over a wood fire for over 40 villagers. Prepared Palak Paneer for orphans in the slums in Jaipur, India. Created new, healthy dishes with the locals in climate stricken rice fields in Sri Lanka. Also, exchanged recipes and cooked for a village in wood huts on the white sandy beaches in Thailand.


Based on the recipes I learned during the filming, I co-authored and published a cookbook which is for sale on Amazon and iTunes and was featured in the Arizona Foothills luxury lifestyle magazine. Over the last year, I have co-hosted live cooking demonstrations on ABC, CBS, FOX and AZTV’s morning and afternoon programs. On my previous trip to Thailand, I produced and hosted two international cooking demonstrations that were broadcasted on ABC’s Afternoon, Live Show. To support my international cooking productions, I founded Cooking with Chef Steven in Portland,  New York City, and Phoenix and had the honor of ranking the number one best personal chef company while in all three cities. At the end of February, I returned to the states after filming and hosting cooking demonstrations in the Costa Rican rainforest.


The knowledge I have gained through my culinary journey is irreplaceable and more valuable than I could have ever imagined.  I am now an avid gardener and enjoy growing spices, herbs, vegetables, and fruits in my gardens.
 
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
 
I look forward to sharing my passion for cooking with you and your family.
 
Best Regards,
 
Chef Steven Ferneding