Your Personal Chef experiencing success and growth

Chris Coble began his journey in 1986 while he was attending the Culinary Institute of America. Chris climbed the ranks of the culinary world in his career after graduating and completing a culinary externship at the Worthington Hotel in Fort Worth. Working at high-end kitchens in Bermuda, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and at sea as an executive chef and food and beverage manager, he gained broad culinary experience. 

In 2000, he founded Your Personal Chef (YPC) in Fort Worth, as an in-home personal chef service. He would take his skills to household kitchens and prepare meals for their week. Chris’ wife and co-owner, Janet Coble, joined the YPC team after leaving behind her corporate job in 2005. She strengthened her culinary skills and began to help with their in-home clients.

In 2011, the Cobles made the move to Aledo.

“We saw that the community had a need for food,” Janet said, so YPC continued to grow. “We got to a point where we could not take anybody else on doing the prep because there’s only so many hours during the day. So, we were like, let’s open this little building and we’ll do all of our private chef stuff out of here,” Janet said.

So, in 2014, the pair opened up the YPC storefront located on 213 E. Oak St. in Aledo. “It quickly exploded. From the very get-go, the community has embraced what we do.” Chris manages the back of the store, handling responsibilities like menu planning and cooking, while Janet, a Certified Public Accountant, oversees the front of the store, including hiring employees and managing accounting and payroll. Their mix of backgrounds blends together and has “set us up for success,” Janet said. 

Gourmet to-go meals are prepared fresh with a menu that changes every day, and Janet said a few of her favorites are the chicken piccata, lasagna, brisket, and all of the fish because it’s wild-caught. With the preparation of these meals, “ our focus has been bringing families around the table,” she said. 

They found success in Aledo and have decided to expand their storefront to include a specialty grocery store. Following completion, alongside their gourmet meals, a shopper will now find items like cheeses and meats to prep charcuterie boards and items specific to what the YPC customers may need. 

“We’re also changing our name,” Janet said, to “YPC Market.” This new name will fully encapsulate all that the business is doing for the community while still keeping its roots with YPC.  The expansion completion date is looking to be set around March or April of this year. With an end product being the same goal: serving the community and its need for food.