Back To The Table

My Name is Bala Smith. I was born in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a small island in the Caribbean. I developed a passion for cooking as a young man. Being the firstborn in a family of seven, one of my responsibilities was cooking for my younger brothers and sisters.

I followed my heart and enrolled at the California Culinary Academy (CCA) in San Francisco in 2010. While attending CCA, I worked at several fine dining restaurants such as Chez Papa Resto and Firefly. I also started Vincysunset, a pop up restaurant to provide authentic Caribbean food in the Bay Area and worked as a personal chef at Munchery.

Four years ago, my love for cooking brought me to NYC. I worked at Tavern on the Green, Empollon, and the Penthouse 808 in Queens. I also started cooking personally for my clients. Some of which worked for Goldman Sachs, NYC ballet dancers and other business owners.

While in NYC I fell in love with my best friend. We then got married and moved here to Portland. I'm currently working as a banquet chef at Jake's Grill and will love to continue my love of cooking personal meals for families. Bring fine dining quality meals to your kitchen. Eliminating the stress of wondering what's for dinner. Instead, you set your table, relax, sip on your favorite drink while Chef Bala prepare restaurant quality meals for you and your family.

Being a personal chef gives me the opportunity to do what I love to do. Bring families together - back to the table. This is something I hold dearly from my childhood. Sitting around the dinner table, sharing stories of the day and from the past, laughing and planning for the future. That’s what I aspire as a personal chef and I hope you join me - back at the table!