Jill Van Cleave, Ltd. jill@foodchic.com 773. 975. 6685
Jill Van Cleave is a food consultant specializing in recipe development and testing for foodservice public relations projects, contributor to consumer publications, and a cookbook author.
Jill’s multi-faceted food career has led the Chicago native through restaurant kitchens and test kitchens, to a chateau in France and a driftwood shack in Key West, into corporate conference rooms and cookbook editor’s offices.
Her romance with food flowered in 1974 when she was hired as an apprentice chef – first woman hired – in the kitchen of Maxim’s de Paris in Chicago, at that time the only branch of the world-famous Paris restaurant. She honed her craft cooking in restaurants in Florida and New York City, and served as charcuterie chef for a Chicago gourmet food and wine shop. Jill worked as a test kitchen chef for public relations firms in Chicago and New York. In this role, she developed recipes for clients, learned to style food for photography and appeared on radio and television during media tours.
In 1986, Van Cleave formed her own consulting business advising food manufacturers on updating their product image by featuring recipes infused with “chic.” Chef recipes are adapted, simplified and formatted in Jill’s kitchen. Do you have photos seeking recipes? Here they find their match.
Accomplishments: Author of: “Icing the Cake” (Contemporary Books, 1990), “Big, Soft, Chewy Cookies” (Contemporary Books, 2003-1995-1991), “The Neighborhood Bakeshop” (William Morrow, 1997). Judge: James Beard Foundation Cookbook Awards. Coordinator: Chicago Zagat Restaurant Survey. Board member: Chicago chapters of Les Dames d’Escoffier International and the American Institute of Wine and Food.
