A Capitol idea whose time has come.

• Author: LEWIS, PETE
• Position: Brief Article

Some people search their entire lives for that perfect career.

Susannah Patterson (on right) stumbled on hers one morning while scanning through a newspaper.

"I had enough of corporate America," said the former project manager for a telecommunications company. "My priorities in life had changed. It was no longer enough to get up and go to work every day for somebody else. All I had to do was read three paragraphs to know that this was for me."

The article responsible for Patterson's epiphany was about personal chefs who prepare easy-to-reheat home-cooked meals for clients at the clients' homes -- an idea well-suited to these hectic times.

Patterson and her sister, Leslie Campbell (on left), launched Capitol Chefs (capitolchefs@home.com) last spring. Typically the pair spends a half day at a client's home and prepares five meals for later use. They do all the shopping and supply all the equipment and supplies -- right down to their own sponges for cleanup.

"People want to eat well, but they don't have time," said Candy Wallace, founder and executive director of the San Diego-based American Personal Chef Association (www.personalchef.com). "They want to eat healthy meals as a family, but they don't have the time or the energy to shop, cook and prepare meals. This is an alternative to fast food and restaurants."

Entrepreneur Magazine listed personal chefs as one of the 12 hottest businesses for 1999. Wallace said there are 3,000 to 4,000 personal chefs in America. Her association has 21 members in Colorado. Another group, the United Personal Chef Association (www.uspca.com) in Rio Rancho, N.M., lists 49 members in Colorado. Personal chefs are more prevalent on both coasts, but Wallace said Colorado has the necessary ingredients for a personal chef to flourish -- an active, affluent population concerned about healthy eating, and long commutes.

The business was a natural for Patterson and her sister. For years the two would get together once a week to prepare a week's worth of meals for their families that they refrigerated or froze for quick and easy dining later.

"I started cooking this way...