Chef Leigh Orleans Interview
Leigh Orelans was supposed to be a financial advisor.
Not a graduate of the Savannah Culinary Institute and CIA. Not a contestant on Hell’s Kitchen Season 22 coming in sixth overall. Not a personal chef who travels the world.
But when cooking became Chef Leigh’s passion and outlet for pure creativity - she followed a new path. We sat down with Leigh for our Periodically Inspired Q&A series that takes a deep dive into a chef’s story and inspiration to talk about being a private chef, Levantine cuisine, advice for pros, cookbooks, coriander, and a lot more. Read the full interview below:
People around you, music, books, travel, research - where do you find inspiration when developing dishes?
“I voraciously read cookbooks. But I also have a really hard time following a recipe. It's just my personality - cooking is definitely a creative expression for me. I have to really want to be in the mood when it comes to baking, it’s not something that comes easily to me because you can't plug and play as much. It's fun to make it my own as I go and riff off the inspiration.
So, I never cook with a cookbook in front of me, but I have a compulsion to just constantly buy new cookbooks. Whenever I see them, I just can't help myself. If I find inspiration from a recipe in a cookbook, I'll make a note in the book and write what I did with it.
I also use social media as a source of inspiration, but in a very intentional way. I really try not to follow social connections very much on Instagram, more just food accounts, so that when I do open social media, it's not a source of some of the negative things that people can incite - it's just food. And that's beautiful.”
When did you first find a love of cooking?
“I grew up in the DC area, so it was a very eclectic melting pot of food. And when I was in elementary school, my mom put my sister and me in summer cooking classes, I think as a way to expose us to the local farmers market and healthy ingredients and vegetables. After that, cooking was always my hobby.
I went to UNC Chapel Hill as a Business undergrad, and my roommate and I got a house off campus sophomore year so we could use a real kitchen instead of the dorm kitchen. I remember we made shrimp scampi and didn't have any cooking equipment, so we used the tomato can as the ladle to serve it. Cooking was what we always wanted to be doing - even though that wasn't my official career path at the time.
My grandfather, who I am named after, was from Russia but grew up in China. He loved cooking and was very much influenced by his time in China. He made this crazy fusion food of basically an immigrant living in America who had Eastern European roots, but also loved soy sauce. Everything was just kind of thrown together and it always ended up being so good. That's how I approach cooking . It's a lot more to feel than something didactic.”
What advice would you give to a chef just starting out?
“My advice to a chef just starting out is to really look at yourself and how you like to learn and follow that path. The beginning of your career is such a beautiful and formative time to shape who you become as a chef. And if you find you learn well in the classroom setting, do that. If you learn better on the job, do that.
If you hate the classroom, don't waste your time and your money. I am a classroom person. Culinary school was perfect for me because I knew that it would give me the environment I needed to do a bunch of creative things off the bat, without having to do one task over and over again to earn the opportunity to learn more.
I wanted to be able to go to my professor and say, ‘I don't know how to shuck an oyster’ and the next week have oysters in class so that I could learn. You don't get those opportunities in many kitchens. Don’t get me wrong - some kitchens you do, but you may have to earn that opportunity.
My culinary school professors were amazing. I was so lucky to have these professors that were not only brilliant in their own right, but also heard me and who I wanted to be as a chef and supported it.
I never wanted to work in a restaurant, that has never been a goal of mine. I have so much respect for restaurant chefs, but it is not what I wanted to do. And my teachers supported that: they got me connections with other private chefs and taught me about planning my own events - and this was all extracurricular to what they were teaching me in the classroom.
Also, remember that learning is such a gift and that while it never ends, if you ever have the opportunity to learn from someone, be it a chef or a teacher, to really treasure that as a gift and not as a burden; you're not always going to have someone that's taking the time to teach you what they know.”
Tell us about the private chef world in 2025.
“I think the connotation of a private chef has changed a lot since I decided that's what I wanted to be. I decided I wanted to be a personal chef for a handful of reasons. As a military spouse, I knew that I would be moving a lot, and I wanted to develop a reputation and build a business as a traveling private chef that I could take with me regardless of where I was.
Before I became a private chef I had always wanted to be a financial adviser. That's all I ever wanted. And now the idea of sitting in an office every day really just boggles my mind. How could I possibly have survived that? But, I do have a degree in business, and I wanted to run my own thing. I wanted to have the responsibility of managing something; that level of independence and making my own schedule is phenomenal. I'm an event-based private chef and the travel is my favorite part. The opportunity to explore the world with my clients and visit some really, really amazing places is something I couldn’t have ever dreamt of, nor something I think I could have achieved in a restaurant kitchen.
On the flip side - I’m a one person show. I hated Accounting 101. Now I'm my accountant. Don’t get me wrong - I am very grateful for the opportunities I’ve received through social media, but I would not have chosen to be a social media manager as part of my career and constantly self-promoting. It is a very emotionally and physically taxing job, more than I think a job with a team can be, which is very rewarding and scary at the same time.”
Talk to me about a moment that stands out during your time filming Hell’s Kitchen.
“I think more of a sentiment than a specific moment. I graduated culinary school and then a month later flew to film Hell’s Kitchen Season 22. I knew I was not going to be the most talented chef on set, I am a realist. But I knew that if I could be the most intentional and the smartest about how I think about everything that's happening, then I would at least do okay.
We all had to quarantine for 10 days before filming. And in that hotel room, when I didn't have access to the outside world, I really knew that prioritizing my mental health was going to be the way I was going to get through the show. And so I just meditated and did yoga for those 10 days.
People have said to me that I was really composed while filming, and I think that my favorite thing that I got out of doing Hell’s Kitchen was realizing that if you invest in your mental health and put your mind to something like that, you totally can do it. It was such a challenging experience, but I don't think any part of it ever really got to me. And that was super cool to come out of it and just be like, ‘Wow, I learned so much. That was scary.’ But I was fine.”
What kinds of flavors or cuisines are you experimenting with these days?
“I've always been attracted to Levantine flavor profiles. My best friend growing up is Persian, and my best friend in college is Israeli. Every time I got to eat at either of their houses, it was my favorite food. I was so excited about those bold flavors and how every single flavor on the plate supported each other. A dish could be so different and cohesive at the same time.
I'm watching Levantine cuisine become more and more popular in the last two years, which is exciting. It's always had a place in my heart - the cuisine just clicks for me. I don't know, but I feel like it comes very naturally for me to cook that region's food. I’ve had many guests tell me my hummus or zhug, for example, tastes just like their Safta or Jadda made it. That is really special for me.”
Do you feel competitive with other chefs?
“I was a swimmer, which I think is the most intrinsically motivated sport that exists because not only is it an individual sport, but you can't see anybody else, too. It's not like you're running next to someone and trying to edge them out. You just have to know in your heart that they're coming and you need to push as hard as you possibly can.
I think that same drive has translated to how I am professionally competitive. It matters much less about what everybody else is doing because their success is never going to take away from mine. It's just about making myself proud. I enjoy challenging myself and sometimes that comes in the form of competition against peers, but it never stems from a need to beat the other guy. I just want to push myself and see what I can do.”
What is a spice that you consider to be undervalued that you use?
“Whole coriander seeds. Toasted whole coriander seeds are my favorite smell in the whole wide world. They’re so complex and floral and earthy at the same time, both in a blend and on their own. And I think this spice is underrated because people don’t realize how versatile it is and how it can be used as a textural component in a dish.”
What's one of your favorite ingredients to cook with and why?
“I love tahini. Talk about an ingredient that so seamlessly translates between sweet and savory. I'm also a person that if I'm going to have something sweet, I don't want it to be cloying. I want there to be depth and balance and tahini totally does that.
Also as a person that maybe should always carry Lactaid pills, it adds really awesome creaminess to dishes without the milk. You don't want to serve everything with dairy.
One of my favorite things to teach in client classes is to replace mayonnaise with tahini while making a Caesar dressing. It is fire for so many reasons. I'm not going to cast shade on mayonnaise, but it's not exactly adding anything to a Caesar salad except for texture. And when tahini is whipped with lemon and thinned with ice water, it adds texture and awesome flavor and it's better for you.”
What’s a technique or trick you've learned along the way that even homecooks could do?
“I think a good freezer stash is so valuable. I'll go to the farmers market or if I ever see ginger that looks really good, I buy it in bulk. Then I peel it with a spoon and cut it into one- or two-inch cubes and freeze it in a gallon bag. It grates so much easier when frozen and it doesn't get stringy like raw ginger does when you try to grate it. You can also add frozen ginger to a smoothie or whatever you want - it’s great to have fresh ginger on hand, I use it to bring life to so many dishes. I also freeze a variety of whole chilies when they are in season to use the same way.”
What’s on the horizon for you this year?
“I’m exploring cooking within dietary restrictions. I've never had any dietary requirements except for a brief stint being a pescatarian in college (as we do). But I've had some health issues this year, so I'm having to assess what I can and cannot eat. These limitations are incredibly challenging when food is my whole life. .
I found out in the fall that I have Hashimoto's, an autoimmune disease that many people believe is flared up by gluten. Then in the winter I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I am lucky to have caught everything, and I am doing well! But right now my health is my top priority, and I believe navigating that with food and nutrition in mind is so important
It's kind of exciting, in a way, to have a new challenge like okay, how do I do this now without gluten or how do I now without ‘XYZ’? Everything in life is about perspective.”