Why Prince's Personal Chef Sometimes Had To Buy Pre-Made Food
Stories about the late, great artist formerly-and-then-once-again-known-as Prince are the stuff of legend. The singer was famous for his exceptional ping-pong skills, playing pickup basketball in platform shoes, and always smelling like lavender ... in addition to being world-renowned (via GQ). And arguably one of the most brilliant musicians of his generation, of course.
But as the saying goes, no one knows you like your personal chef knows you; and Margaret Wetzler, before getting into the world of marketing for non-profits, was Prince's once and former personal chef ... and she happily put paid to some of the more interesting rumors surrounding Minneapolis' man of mystery for Food & Wine.
"I was always on call," Wetzler said of the three months she spent working as Prince's personal chef. "My only break was the three days he played Coachella. When he got back to the house afterwards, he said, 'Where were you? I thought you'd be backstage.'" In the end, the hours and the time off — or lack thereof — is what led Wetzler to quit, as being asked to drum up a miso-glazed sea bass for Prince and Ryan Seacrest with only an hour's notice isn't necessarily conducive to a balanced lifestyle.
But the three months Wetzler spent in the role (which she was hired for just out of cooking school) will sound very familiar to anyone who's ever had an in-over-your-head kind of job. Maybe with more soy candles and light-up high-heeled boots, though.
A tea party fit for a Prince
Margaret Wetzler told Food & Wine that although she first felt nervous about playing chef to such a big-name celebrity, Prince made her feel at ease with his warmth and good manners. Still, it's probably hard to relax when Prince calls for a birthday cake at 11 p.m. "I bought it at the grocery store," Wetzler admitted. "Once he wanted a chocolate fountain, but when I asked where to put it, he looked at me, waited a beat, and said 'I do the music.'" Even creative genius has its limitations.
The birthday cake wasn't the only store-bought savior. Prince may have made his own scrambled eggs most mornings (and several friends concurred in GQ that, besides eggs, his majesty of pop wasn't a big eater), but when he decided to host a traditional English tea party, it was Wetzler who Prince called to throw something together. Of course, the short notice (his assistant called her an hour before the party was to begin) meant that the chef had no choice but to grab something pre-made.
"I ordered everything from scones to cucumber sandwiches to go, and raced back to serve it as if I'd made it all myself," Wetzler confessed. Now, wasn't that a dainty dish to set before a Prince?