THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 5, 1994 TAG: 9410040124
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
WHEN BARBARA GURER gets home from work, there's one thing she doesn't have to worry about - fixing dinner for her and husband, Ahmet.
A gourmet dinner - maybe herbed lamb chops or baked salmon - is already cooked and just waiting to be reheated thanks to Raouti ``Rudy'' and Rkia ``Kay'' Benallal.
The Benallals own R&R Personal Chef Service, a business where they come to your home and cook a week's worth of gourmet meals.
``I love it,'' said Barbara Gurer, who lives in Great Neck Point. ``It's very convenient for my husband and me. And the food is really good.''
The Gurers are like a lot of working couples, often too busy to worry about preparing a decent dinner.
And those are the exact customers that the Benallals hope to reach with the business they started in May.
``If you have a busy schedule and you come home, it's hard to cook,'' said Rudy Benallal, 38. ``We're targeting the busy professional, people with special diets and older people who find it hard to cook.''
The business works this way: a customer and the Benallals will get together to go over some of the 1,200 recipes for a weekly menu. Once the items are chosen, the Benallals go grocery shopping and then return to the customer's home to prepare a week's worth of meals.
They bring and use their own spices, utensils, cookware and storage containers. They spend one day, up to five hours, cooking the food and then store and label each dinner with instructions for re-heating.
``The only thing we use from them (the customer) is their sink and stove,'' said Rudy Benallal, a native of Algeria.
Each meal comes with an entree, a side dish, salad, bread and, once a week, cake or cookies.
A sampling of the dishes available include Dijon herbed lamb chops, green lasagna, swiss meatballs, cranberry glazed pork, baked salmon, veal and mushroom lasagna, stuffed acorn squash and mashed potato cheese casserole.
Customers are not bound by the recipe offerings, said Benallal. If they have a favorite recipe or dish, the Benallals are happy to prepare it.
The Benallals are using a computer software program for their recipes that can accommodate menus for special needs, such as diabetes.
Rudy Benallal specializes in French, Italian and Mexican dishes, whereas Kay Benallal is best with Middle Eastern dishes, especially dishes from her Moroccan birthplace.
Five days of dinners for two costs $100 and that includes the groceries. Each additional plate or person, costs $50 a week. Customers can use their services for one week or indefinitely.
The Benallals are also offering their services for catering. ``Whatever interests people, basically, that's what we do right now,'' said Rudy Benallal.
``Sometimes cooking is an art,'' added Kay Benallal, 28. ``Not everyone can do it.''
Rudy Benallal has cooked more than 1,000 dinners this summer as the head chef at Hot Tuna restaurant on Shore Drive. He has more than 15 years experience in restaurant management and cooking.
Before the birth of their child, Yusuf, who is now 1, Kay Benallal worked in a local deli preparing sandwiches and baking desserts.
``Now, this is a chance for the family to do something together,'' she said.
The couple, who have been married for four years, met at a community gathering.
Rudy Benallal came to the United States 16 years ago to go to school in North Carolina for an engineering degree.
After three years of working at restaurants to support himself while going to school, he decided to switch majors and concentrate on the restaurant business.
``In the restaurant business there is more opportunity,'' said Rudy Benallal. ``In engineering, you have to have experience as well as a degree. Many of my friends (in engineering) have spent years and years trying to find a job.''
Benallal moved to Virginia Beach in 1986 to open a new restaurant for his boss in North Carolina. Since, he has worked at several area restaurants, including Aldo's.
Kay Benallal came to Virginia Beach in 1989 as an exchange student from Morocco. Currently, she is studying psychology at Tidewater Community College.
Together, the couple spend a good deal of time in the kitchen - their own and the kitchens of others - cooking for friends and customers.
``The most exciting thing about this is it's so new,'' said Kay Benallal. ``And we enjoy it so much.'' MEMO: To reach R&R Personal Chef Service, call 491-3636. R&R will serve
customers throughout the Hampton Roads area.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
ABOVE: Rudy Benallal and his wife Rkia prepare utensils and spices
for Rudy's next house call.
LEFT: Rudy, head chef at Hot Tuna, cooks garlic lime shrimp in his
own kitchen.
by CNB