About Us
French-trained professional chef Victoria Cortes spent 12 years cooking in the kitchens of professional athletes, a national television anchor, and dozens of busy families. In 2022 Chef Victoria expanded her operation to a licensed commercial kitchen in Arlington, Virginia where she makes it easy for people to stock their refrigerators with nutrient-dense prepared meals.
My Story
Where It All Began
After graduating cum laude from a liberal arts college (click here) in Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and French, Victoria worked for 5 years in documentary film at the National Geographic Channel in Washington, D.C.
Enamored of the amazing food she experienced during the year she studied in France, Victoria decided to pursue a degree in the culinary arts at a French culinary school.
Since graduating with honors from the Professional Culinary Arts Program at L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Victoria has honed her skills in all kinds of kitchen operations- from fine dining, catering, and prepared foods to the set of the television cooking show, Emeril Green (featuring Chef Emeril Lagasse).
“Chef Victoria Cortes was instrumental in helping us follow an anti-inflammatory diet for optimal nutrition and performance… She inspired us to love more vegetables than before, and we never felt like we were eating a restricted diet.”
-NFL Quarterback Kirk Cousins & his Wife Julie
News
After 12 years of cooking for clients in their homes, Victoria transferred her operation to a certified, licensed commercial kitchen in Arlington, VA.
Mission
The mission for Victoria Cortes Personal Chef Service remains the same: make it easy for her clients to have a refrigerator full of highly nutritious prepared foods.
New Goal
By expanding her business into a commercial kitchen, Victoria’s goal is to make anti-inflammatory meal plans available to more people.
Anti-Inflammatory Diets
Victoria gained extensive experience with anti-inflammatory diets while working with professional athletes who tracked their food sensitivities. On a weekly basis, Victoria would create custom menus for her athlete clients based on the foods they needed to avoid.
Victoria is well-versed with these anti-inflammatory diets: the autoimmune protocol (AIP), Whole30 and the Paleo diet.
AIP
In 2022 Victoria completed a comprehensive 6-week course on the subject of the Auto-Immune Protocol (AIP), which was created by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD (Medical Biophysics). Victoria was fascinated to learn that nutrient deficiencies are one of the reasons that people develop auto-immune conditions. Victoria learned that not only is it important to avoid certain foods in order to reduce inflammation, but that it’s important to focus on including foods with nutrient density in the diet.
Food as Medicine
Victoria is convinced of the healing power of food and her delicious and nutritious preparations have proved helpful in reducing inflammation in the body and fighting many ailments. When it comes to healthy food, Victoria does not believe in shortcuts- she prepares slow-simmered bone broths and adjusts standard recipes in order to incorporate more wholesome ingredients.
Victoria is a Certified Food Safety Manager with the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals and Victoria Cortes Personal Chef Service is licensed, bonded, and insured.
Testimonials
What People are Saying
%22Victoria makes wonderful food – my guests were raving about the tasty salads and wonderful breads – until THE CHOCOLATE CAKE came out! Once everyone had a taste of this divine, rich, creamy chocolate perfection – it was THE topic of conversation until the party’s end. The raspberries were the perfect tart complement to the sweet – WOW!%22
Pamela
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%22It was a pleasure to work with Victoria Cortes. She was a fountain of creative, original ideas. She thoroughly researched and tested recipes, for example, which fish would be most appropriate for the dish I had chosen. She was good-natured when I changed my mind, and delivered a bravura performance on the big night. The cuisine was delicious. My friends were delighted. I highly recommend her.%22
Lara
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%22Victoria, with only two days notice, helped me plan the most important dinner party of my life. Not only that, she let me collaborate on the menu, we created recipes together, and she worked with the recipes and ingredients that I desired. She prepared an elegant formal dinner for 12 VIPs, and got rave reviews from the guests. And, I enjoyed every second of the party while she and her assistant tended to every detail. Victoria was cheerful and intrepid throughout the whole process. I loved working with her, and highly commend her to you!%22
Kimberly
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%22Victoria, Thank you for the amazing cooking demonstration for our women’s group. We thoroughly enjoyed learning how to prepare all the tasty and healthy foods you demonstrated along with the advice about the wine pairings. Many of the members have already tried your recipes at home with great success. We had such a good time, we plan to do it again!%22
Cheryl
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%22It is truly a pleasure to recommend Victoria Cortes as a personal chef to you. We have enjoyed her innovative and healthy recipes for the past eight months without one complaint and intend on continuing to use her skilled service for the foreseeable future. As busy retirees we love the convenience of having a well-stocked freezer full of good food that is free from unhealthy chemicals within our reach whenever we want anything from a snack to an entire meal.%22
Dominic
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%22Victoria, oh my, your food is amazing! We love the Mediterranean chicken salad (I don’t know what your other recipe was but I’m sold on this one). Shepherd’s pie: AMAZING! Chicken dish with artichokes and olives: AMAZING! And you already know how I feel about the carnitas. And how do you make that cilantro lime rice with brown rice so tasty? It’s cooked perfectly!!!!!!!!!! %22
Jenny
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%22Victoria, let me start by saying that we are really happy that we hired you. You did a great job, and we thanked you at every meal…The sauce for the pizza kits was OUTSTANDING. It was the best I’ve ever had… Everyone agreed that your meatloaf was the best they’d ever had. There was not a crumb left after the meal…We were going to share the individual berry puddings, but everyone liked them so much that we each wanted our own. In all, a great weekend of food — and we are still eating all this goodness. You did a really fine job. Thank you again. %22
Sally
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%22I contacted quite a few personal chefs for our events, and Victoria was the only one who treated our limitations as exciting challenges rather than blockers. Despite severe food allergies, the need for portable meals, and strong preferences and dislikes, Victoria rose to the occasion. Working with someone as professional and willing to adapt and learn was a pleasure for us. And the food was delicious, beautifully presented, and fairly priced. We will use her again!%22
Brooke
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%22Victoria, we are REALLY enjoying the food you prepared. We thoroughly enjoyed having you cook for us the past couple months. What a treat!! Thank you so much! We both feel amazing after eating so healthy!%22
Nicole
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%22Personal Chef Victoria was instrumental in helping us follow an anti-inflammatory diet for optimal nutrition and performance. Chef Victoria worked with an extensive list of foods that we chose to avoid, and developed a variety of creative menu options for us. She inspired us to love more vegetables than before, and we never felt like we were eating a restricted diet. We particularly liked her homemade fermented beverages, her kale salad with a dairy-free cilantro-lime dressing, and her soups made with bone broth. We were surprised at the number of desserts and snacks Chef Victoria was able to adapt for us- they included gluten-free granola bars, nut butter energy bites, and a raw brownie. We will miss her food when we leave Washington.%22
Kirk & Julie
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