Rising Stars: Meet Damon Ruff

Today we’d like to introduce you to Damon Ruff.

Hi Damon, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Sheesh, where do I start?! Lol. My journey dates back to high school, I have always been creative. I have always been into art, music, and fashion. I’ve owned a few clothing brands, and also a food concept in my time prior to becoming a chef. Creativity goes a long way, and I became burnt out on the career path I spent 15 plus years in.

I worked for companies such as Nordstrom, Wells Fargo, and American Airlines. I managed and lead many outlets through those companies but in those times always cooked behind the scenes. I would do small parties, potlucks, and parties and get together where I always lead the good eats lol. Never took it seriously throughout all those years but something I always told myself I would try eventually. So about 5 years ago, I moved back home to Ohio, to create a restart. My father (Hugh Ruff) had friends and built business relations in our city of Columbus, OH.

My dad is a big-time foodie, he at the time introduced me to a few chef friends he had, and I began to start my journey and learn through each one of them. It was Sean Chatman who stood out the most at the time. He was like an older version of me and I valued and looked up to him compare to many I hardly do. He was an executive chef for 10 years and graduated with honors from Bradford Culinary Institute in Columbus.

He had a hole-in-the-wall vibe, where he served 5-star plating and cuisine. Busy place every night, nonstop business, and I was kind of thrown on the line and was taught firsthand how to cook. As time went on, I became better and better and my confidence became sky high, where I found myself moving up and being a major piece of his operation at the time. I built my confidence up and expanded out of his kitchen into creating a concept recipe I had. Within 2 months of selling, I was averaging over 100 orders a week. I began to research and study more into catering and private chef services.

I saw that back in phoenix there was an opportunity to really pursue a career in being a private chef. They always say if you don’t go to culinary school the next step is learning from an executive chef. I did just that coin essentially. In June 2020, at the time, was working a job at Pepsi part-time and was laid off because work became slow. I looked at my parents and said I’m going back to phoenix and giving this a shot!! My parents and siblings were my biggest fans and told me to get back out there.

Since July 2020, I’ve been booked! Amazing! After years of never knowing I had the ability to perform at this level in the industry, I’m thankful I took the chance with no education outside of one on one training and make this private chef thing something! I’m thankful to be able to start from scratch and now be a full-fledged private chef and private catering business.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
To be honest, it has been a smooth road, I’m thankful to say in two years I haven’t had to refund, clients haven’t gotten sick or food poisoning lol, and last no one has bad-mouthed my business or logo.

I think with me being in high-end retail and making away with customer service I learned how to reduce retention through the action of customer service. Don’t get me wrong I’ve had some clients not pay, cancel last minute, ghost invoices, and last big-time names not taking care of the business side of things.

But truly every mistake is a lesson and being chef dame cooks now, I have to continue finding ways to keep this business clean. All and all, I’m thankful for each client, referral, word of mouth, and all that I have gained in these two years.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I feel like an overall creative you essentially can do anything that creativity takes you. I have specialized in clothing design, sneaker design, and dance choreography you name it!! Lol. Essentially, I would say, I specialize in really making a vision come true through art in any form. I would say I’m known for just that, creating a new way, new look, pretty much a trendsetter!

I have created fusion recipes now as a chef, taking cuisines and meshing them into a whole new flavor palate. I would say those are the most influential pieces to me thus far. I feel like that’s what has set me apart from other chefs here in the valley. Cooking 6 days a week creating a different cuisine daily!

On top of doing the private catering events gives me another opportunity to showcase many new looks for most cuisines. Overall though I’m glad to have captivated a new look at food here in the valley. I’m really proud I was and have been ranked in the top 5 and top 10 in some media releases this past year.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I like best about Phoenix is the amount of professional teams here.

It creates a different aesthetic and revenue for the city, bigger attractions, and more destination visits. dislike about Phoenix is honestly the mindset of a good percentage of civilians. My message to that is it’s sunny and 93 degrees. Smile and be grateful.

This city is rising and we need to work in a better mental space in order to make it grow PROPERLY!

Pricing:

• Private Couple Dinners Start at $750
• Private Catering Starts at $89.99 a person
• Meal Prep aka 5- star in a box starts at $220 a week
• Travel Chef Services start at $4k
• Menu Design and Consultations start at $125

Contact Info:

• Email: Chefdamoncooks@gmail.com
• Website: ChefDamoncooks.com
• Instagram: @chefdamecooks
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC4i8YN-SdSgUNJsqKlgcIJQ

Image Credits
Chef Dame Cooks, Kodak Black, Chef Dame Cooks, and Deestroying