Lake Country Catering, LLC
“The Wife”
Jennifer Amaya, The Wife, began working in her mother’s tea room, The Briar Patch at the early age of 16 working every job from washing dishes to line cook, server, and hostess. They would serve sandwiches, quiche, salads and desserts from 11:00-2:00 with dinner theatre in the evening.
Jennifer went on to earn two college degrees, one of which in Exercise Science from Christopher Newport University. She obviously credits this to her choice in healthy lifestyle saying “I also played soccer for my university, I trained hard, played hard and had to make sure my body had the proper nutrition.”
Jennifer has over 25 years in the food and beverage business, mainly in New York and Connecticut. It was the latter, in Greenwich at a French-American Restaurant, where she met her husband.
“The Chef”
Jaime Amaya, The Chef, began his kitchen career by helping his grandmother, baking bread in El Salvador. Jaime took a few culinary classes in New York, studying American cuisine with French Techniques though he says that most of his knowledge comes from “on the job” training. In 2015, with over 20 years of experience in a professional kitchen while working under amazing chefs in New York and Connecticut, The Chef and The Wife moved to Georgia and began their catering business the following year. I asked the couple what brought them to Georgia from New York, specifically to Lake Oconee to which they replied “solely to be closer to family.” “We would visit and felt like Lake Oconee would be a great place to raise our children” said The Chef.
When asked how they discovered the Ornish Diet, The Wife said they were highly recommended on a local app. After the “Dean Ornish Lifestyle Program” was explained to them, she immediately responded with much enthusiasm saying, “Well you just hit the jackpot with us!” Even though the Ornish Diet is a far cry from baking bread in El Salvador and culinary French training, The Chef insists that preparing for the program isn’t difficult “just different than traditional techniques [taught] in schools and restaurants.” He went on to say “the transition was more the style of cooking for me. All the ingredients the… program uses I’m very familiar with… to cook with no oil would be the most different aspect.” The official Dean Ornish Chef from California made the journey to the couples café where The Chef says “we worked together for about nine hours. He taught me all of the cooking techniques…”
The Wife says the biggest mistake she sees people make in choosing an exercise and diet program is that “they think they have to cut their caloric intake in half but really if you are eating the correct foods you actually eat more!” “…our whole family enjoys every meal” says The Chef when asked if his family follows the Ornish Program. “We eat very clean [and] prepare all of our own meals.” Although the family does consume some animal products on occasion but only organic chicken and grass-fed beef. Diving into the exercise part of the program, the wife goes on to say, “exercise can be any movement… yard work, house cleaning, a quick walk on your lunch break. People dive into an exercise program too intensely; it is a process! It takes time and you need to respect your body and listen to your body.”
Just knowing that I’m making an impact on our society helping others find joy in healthy food like we do
“I love when people finally make the shift and they say I have never felt better. I love seeing their boost in energy, to me they start looking and acting younger” The Wife said. “Just knowing that I’m making an impact on our society, helping others find joy in healthy food like we do!” added The Chef. The couple says, “Food truly brings people together. Healthy food can be delicious.” The Chef even makes a carrot cake, a guilty pleasure of his, with “vegan” cream cheese icing.
Lake Country Catering, the couples catering business is located on Main Street in downtown Greensboro. The space is available to rent for private events while The Chef and The Wife act as Private Chef, Owner and even Event Planner.
