Small Business Spotlight: Private Chef Serving Brainerd Lake District – Brainerd Dispatch
BRAINERD – Up North Eats, a restaurant and personal chef service in the Brainerd Lakes region, is approaching its second anniversary.
Jesse Ruttger, owner of Up North Eats, has been cooking since he was a kid. Growing up, Ruttger watched his grandmother cook and it inspired him to discover his passion for cooking.
“Growing up watching my grandmother cook and stuff, she was always cooking these big, elaborate dinners,” Ruttger said. “I’ve always been known to experiment in the kitchen and help it out and play with pots and pans and everything. And it has always been a passion for me.
This early passion would lead Ruttger to participate in a high school program called ProStart. ProStart is an industry-supported two-year culinary arts and restaurant management program for high school students.
“So we had like a cafe in our high school where the students, instead of using the typical cafeteria, could go down to the student-run cafe, which was a full-service restaurant, where we had servers, managers, chefs and stuff like that,” Ruttger said. “So I got through my sophomore year and then went to ProStart at Marshall.”
Ruttger and another teammate ended up taking first place in culinary and hospitality management. From there, the two went to the Nationals in Charlotte, North Carolina and placed seventh and 14th.
To prepare for the nationals, Ruttger trained under a hotel chef in Minneapolis. He continued to work under him for three years, before becoming a banquet chef.
After high school, Ruttger attended culinary school for a year and a half before deciding to change careers. He changed his major to criminal justice and sociology.
Five years ago, Ruttger and his wife moved to the Brainerd Lakes region to raise their son. Two years ago, Ruttger decided he wanted to change careers again and return to his culinary roots. He started his business focusing on cooking food at the event. There aren’t many taxi services outside of downtown Brainerd and going out to eat can be a hassle, Ruttger said.
“So when people are here with friends or family, it can be difficult to go out to a restaurant and back to the cabin and stuff like that, especially on special occasions,” Ruttger said. “So it just came to me like ‘Well, why don’t we bring the restaurant to them?’ and that’s sort of where Up North Eats was built.
Up North Eats does not offer off-site dining. All cooking is done at the event site and meal ingredients are purchased on the day of the event. The only thing guests are asked to provide are plates, silverware and glasses.
If a party has fewer than eight guests, Ruttger will travel to the event alone. If the group is bigger, he will bring a server to make sure everything is going well.
They serve everything from appetizers to dessert, and have a printed menu that customers can choose from. Roasted beef tenderloins are the most popular dish served by Ruttger, but he enjoys steak and seafood the most.
There aren’t many options for a private chef in the Brainerd Lakes region like there are in cities, Ruttger said. He said he was happy to offer the region the experience of having a private chef.
Up North Eats has served a variety of different types of events. Ruttger said he has hosted a few bachelorette parties, corporate events and family reunions. Anywhere within approximately 20 minutes of Brainerd is included in Ruttger’s fee, but further afield will be an additional cost.
Most of Ruttger’s customers are not locals, but people who come to the area. He has connections with a few Airbnb owners here who gave him referrals, but it’s been harder to let the community know there’s a private chef in the area.
“I think in the end, just seeing everyone so pleasantly surprised that a private chef is even an option in the Brainerd Lakes area,” is his favorite thing, Ruttger said. “I’ve had clients who come from these big cities, that’s nothing new. There are always private chefs in the big cities. But I think people were really surprised when they found out that there were actually private chefs in this area and they could provide that kind of experience here in the land of the lakes.
SARA GUYMON, Brainerd Dispatch, writer, can be reached at 218-855-5851 or
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