Jenny Love’s
Cooking

Personalized meals, private dinners, and small gatherings — cooked in your home.

Jenny in an apron holding a plated dish she cooked

My story

It started at my family’s table.

Some of my earliest memories are of watching my dad and family prepare meals together, with the kitchen always filled with conversation, laughter, and a sense of togetherness. Those moments sparked my love for cooking and shaped the way I approach every dining experience.

Today, my passion is creating personalized meals that allow people to slow down, connect, and celebrate life's special moments. Whether it's an intimate dinner, a family gathering, or a milestone celebration, I believe every meal should feel thoughtful, welcoming, and unforgettable.

I focus on using quality ingredients, refined techniques, and careful attention to detail to create restaurant-quality experiences in the comfort of your home. For me, cooking goes beyond the kitchen. It's about creating an experience that people can enjoy, appreciate, and carry with them.

What I do

Restaurant-quality cooking, in the comfort of your home.

A table laid with place settings and platters for a dinner party at golden hour

Private Dining

Intimate dinners and dinner parties, led from concept to table — menu design, ingredient sourcing, and final presentation.

A week of prepped meals portioned into glass containers

Weekly Meal Prep

Custom weekly meal plans for private clients, with each menu adapted to individual dietary needs and preferences.

A full grazing table of charcuterie, cheeses, fruit and crackers

Events & Catering

Small private events and celebrations, cooked and plated in your home rather than delivered from somewhere else.

From my kitchen

Weekly meal plans, grazing tables, and dinners for clients.

Fresh Vietnamese summer rolls fanned around four dipping sauces on a painted platter — Fresh Vietnamese summer rolls

Prepped meals: turkey meatloaf, cauliflower mash, kale and chopped salads, baked cod, chicken picadillo, quinoa and watermelon — Turkey meatloaf with cauliflower mash, salad prep, baked Mediterranean cod, chicken picadillo

Lemongrass chicken bánh mì on a painted platter with pickled vegetables, herbs and chilies — Lemongrass chicken bánh mì

Prepped meals: a tray of pea and asparagus risotto, roasted peppers, carrot and celery sticks, and two trays of chicken breasts — Pea and asparagus risotto, grilled and roasted veggies, rosemary thyme baked chicken breast, grilled blackened chicken breasts

Pork and vegetable egg rolls plated with a dipping sauce on a set table — Pork and veggie egg rolls

Prepped meals: chicken piccata, steamed asparagus, a pot of ground turkey cabbage soup, tuna poke, salads and eggs — Tuna poke, salad prep, steamed asparagus, ground turkey cabbage soup, chicken piccata

Prepped meals: rice noodles, shredded chicken, tofu and herbs for phở, tofu chickpea curry, rice, Mediterranean salad and fajita vegetables — Tofu chickpea curry, chicken and tofu phở, Mediterranean salad, chickpea tofu fajitas

Prepped meals: an artichoke and vegetable skillet, Mediterranean baked salmon, a tray of chicken enchiladas, kale salad and quinoa — Artichoke and veggie skillet, Mediterranean baked salmon, chicken enchiladas, salad prep, quinoa

Trays of individual crudité and charcuterie cups for an event — Crudité and charcuterie cups

Prepped meals: chicken meatballs, baked chicken, kale and Mediterranean salads, and a tray of enchiladas — Salad prep, chicken meatballs, baked chicken, Mediterranean salad, enchiladas

A tray of raspberry, blackberry and blueberry skewers prepared for catering — Berry skewers

Prepped meals: sweet potatoes, rosemary thyme chicken, cauliflower shepherd's pie, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, breaded chicken and cut fruit — Sweet potatoes, salad prep, rosemary thyme chicken breast, cauliflower shepherd's pie, steamed veggies, breaded baked chicken breast

Where I learned

Bangkok, Bali, Kyoto, Osaka.

Formal training at Le Cordon Bleu Bangkok, cooking classes across Bali and Thailand, and a lot of time eating my way through the region — deepening the Southeast Asian roots I grew up with.

Jenny with matcha soft serve at Nishiki Market, Kyoto

Jenny holding two prawns over a seafood boil at a night market

Jenny eating kushikatsu on a street in Osaka

Jenny with a plate of satay skewers at a hawker stall

Jenny with a grilled skewer in Dotonbori, Osaka

Jenny with a pickled cucumber on a stick in an Osaka arcade

Experience & training

How I got here.

Formal training in Bangkok, private clients in San Diego, and the rooms in Chicago and Champaign that came before them.

2026

Le Cordon Bleu Bangkok

Culinary Arts Program — Basic Cuisine

Classical French technique from the ground up — knife work, protein and vegetable fabrication, and the organization, hygiene and safety that hold a kitchen together. From there to complex, menu-driven dishes, and to building flavor with herbs, spices and condiments.

2024–2025

Private Chef

Self-employed · San Diego, California

Custom weekly meal plans for private clients, each menu adapted to that person's dietary needs and preferences. Alongside it, catering small private events and dinner parties from concept to table — menu design, ingredient sourcing, and final presentation.

2024

Ema

Server · Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, Chicago

Front of house in a high-volume, upscale Mediterranean room, guiding guests through a seasonal mezze-style menu and working closely with the kitchen and bar to hold service standards through the peak — for one of Chicago's leading hospitality groups.

2019–2022

KAMS

Bartender · Champaign, Illinois

A fast, high-volume room, crafting and serving a wide range of drinks with orders, payments and bar inventory all moving at once.

2019–2021

Delta Sigma Pi

VP Fundraising · Champaign, Illinois

$7,000 raised for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on handmade eggrolls, with a kitchen of five peers to run to get them all out the door.

Also

Cooking classes in Bali and Thailand — Regional technique, alongside the Vietnamese cooking I grew up with
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — Gies College of Business — B.S. Marketing & Information Systems

Certified

Illinois Food Handler Training — Expires February 2027
BASSET Alcohol Training — Expires February 2027
Highfield Food Safety Level 1 — Completed July 2026

Contact

Let’s put something on the table.

Private dinners, weekly meal prep, or a gathering you’re planning — tell me what you have in mind.

jenniferlovehuynh@gmail.com

Jennifer Love Huynh · Chicago, Illinois

Jenny Love’sCooking