Testimonials
We BOW to the "Salad Goddess"!
With Love,
Ingrid Restrick
Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club Ladies Auxiliary
Dear Chefs Carol, Sarah and Jason,
Thank you for all of your hard work and wonderful gourmet meals! You truly went above and beyond all expectations! Multiple times, Carol surprised me with thoughtful favors and extra love which you added to this vacation for the Stones. I will be sure to use your services for any future clients and programs we sponsor, and will most certainly refer you to partners of ours.
The Stones thoroughly enjoyed their Fort Lauderdale vacation, mostly due to the fact that they enjoyed such wonderful and delightful gourmet meals and professional, friendly service. They complimented every aspect of your personal chef expertise, reporting that you and your staff accommodated their every request, took care of all of additional daily grocery shopping needs, offered special touches and customized cooking, and lots more. Your menus, service and culinary skills as a personal chef are exceptional and we are all thrilled that we were able to obtain The Occasional Chef for this special family holiday vacation.
Cheers~
Gene Vignola
P.S. If you ever have any needs in the sports and entertainment world, please do not hesitate to call me.
I am thrilled to recommend Carol Wood's work as a chef! Ms. Wood was Head Chef of the Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club from 2001 to 2005. I am a member of the club and was Head of the Kitchen Committee for the membership and had almost daily dealings with Carol during my tenure.
Carol took a tired menu and created a new eating experience for the Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club members. She brought interesting salads to our club, which was a welcome change. She developed our menu, bringing a wider range of gourmet dishes, in addition to finding great local fresh ingredients. Her tenure saw a huge increase in the number of diners at the club. In addition, she trained her staff to give high quality, professional service. Finally, Carol is a whiz at presentation: It wasn't enough for the food to be delicious; it also had to look beautiful! As a result, the yacht club became a sought after venue for weddings, engagement parties and catered events. Carol was greatly sought after for private parties at the lake and at private homes in Sussex and Morris Counties because of her reputation for putting together such impressive feasts.
The Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club was very lucky to have Carol for five years, and we were all sorry to see her go. The Occasional Chef, Carol’s personal chef business, will certainly be well received by all of her clients! Bon Appétit!
Sincerely,
Karim Teresa Rochelle
Ms. Carol Wood has been a contract employee of mine over the past many years. I am a retired executive chef, now in the catering business, and have called on Carol to act as my chef many times. She has been in complete charge of all planning, purchasing, and kitchen management. Carol has also been in charge of menu planning, implementing procedures and all aspects of the food service, which has developed into a smooth system. This makes food service very special.
I most highly recommend Carol. She is very creative, of good character, honest, and most diligent. Her fine temperament is suited to her exceptional cooking skills.
I have been in the food service industry for 48 years, member of Chef Cuisine, American Academy of Chefs and a successful chef and restaurateur. It is a pleasure to know Carol and I am honored to act as her mentor for the past 12 years!
Sincerely,
Chef Don Niffenegger
Chef Carol Wood has worked in my home as my Private Chef for over 5 years. She is reliable, trustworthy, dependable, and creative, as well as being a wonderful and talented chef. Besides all of that, Carol is a lot of fun to be around! She has a magnanimous and generous nature, and I am blessed to have her in my life!
I brag to all of my friends that I am treated like Royalty every day! Chefs Carol and Sarah serve me breakfast on my cherished and beautiful antique Blue Colonel dishes each morning, and to say the least, it is a pleasure to wake up to such a delightful tray of healthy and appetizing fare. Luncheons are equally as lovely, usually complete with an elegant salad of the day, fresh seasonal fruits, and a tasty dessert. Dinners are always a work of art and a delicious gourmet treat, beautifully customized to my dietary needs and special requests. Each meal is as good as or better than the last! I can easily say that guests receiving an invitation to my home for dinner find it to be a privilege and an honor. I have been told that my dining room table has become the most popular place around, due to my wonderful Private Chef. She makes it all so much fun and the food is always the best in town! It is indeed a pleasure to have Carol with me, and her devotion and dependable talents make me I feel as though I am a guest in my own house!
Carol is indeed a joy and a blessing for me; my meals are always a delicious and delightful celebration. Having her part of my life makes it all so much easier, now that my husband has passed away. Just knowing that I can rely on her talents, cheerfulness, and generosity makes it all so much better!
With Great Appreciation,
Mrs. Eleanor P. Crikelair
Chef Carol Wood has acted as our Home Manager and Private Chef for the past year and a half. She is an exceptional cook whose creative talents certainly do not end in the kitchen! Her menu planning skills are most delightful, and she has especially endeared herself to us, as well as to all of our guests, by continually and cheerfully accommodating our many necessary requests for customized meals and dietary restrictions. These restrictions certainly do not hold her back from preparing delicious and appetizing gourmet dishes! We have thoroughly enjoyed her excellent fare, and consider Carol to be a very talented and wonderful chef and home manager. She provides us with healthy meals while constantly treating us to wonderful, great tasting, and savory fare.
It is also imperative that I compliment Carol’s personable and engaging demeanor; she is truly a pleasure to have as part of our household. As anyone would imagine, hiring a personal or private chef generally means relinquishing a great deal of privacy, but Carol is not at all intrusive or invasive; in fact she is quite the opposite. She is respectful of all others in the household; she is friendly and helpful in and out of the kitchen, and she has proven to be a most professional yet dear friend to all of us. We can count on her for anything!
We rely on Carol for a great deal, and she is extremely good at multi tasking and accommodating my wife’s and my needs. As the former Chief of Staff of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City and Former President of the American Board of Plastic Surgeons, I have been accustomed to a fast-paced social life with expectations of providing my colleagues and guests with superior dinners and upscale catered events. Chef Carol is unsurpassed in accomplishing any task when it comes to our entertaining requests, and she does so with ease and professionalism. It is a pleasure and an honor to have her as part of our staff. I don’t know what we would do without her!
I highly recommend Carol as a Private/Personal Chef and Caterer; she offers one of the finest and most creative chef businesses I have had the pleasure of associating with. It is a pleasure to have her on board at our home!
Yours Truly,
George F. Crikelair, MD
Member of the
Fort Lauderdale
Chamber of Commerce 
Fully Insured by CNA 
Member in good standing
Broward County Chamber
of Commerce