The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Serendipity
By Sue G. Collins, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 22, 2007
Nic Sims believes it was true serendipity finding the vacant commercial space downtown Saline late last summer.
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While looking for a new home for her bulging culinary business, Skip to My Roux, she heard about the hole left when the Queen of Hearts bakery moved to Ypsilanti. Once she stepped inside the shop on North Ann Arbor Street, she knew she had the main ingredient for her next move.
"I absolutely fell in love with the space," said Sims, who has been a personal chef since graduating from the Schoolcraft College culinary arts program three years ago. "I bought the kitchen equipment from Terry (Morrow) and knew this would give me the perfect opportunity to grow."
Sims lives in Ann Arbor with her husband, a professional photographer and owner of a coffee roasting business, Mighty Good Coffee, and their two children.
Though she considered expanding her business in Ann Arbor, she found Saline to be a smarter financial choice.
"Plus, I really love the downtown Saline neighborhood and believe I got in at the right time," Sims said. "I want to be a part of the community and help it grow, which I can feel is happening now."
Sims runs a very successful, high-end personal chef business, cooking gourmet meals in her clients' homes. Sims meets with families to discover their preferences, handles the food shopping and prepares meals for a week or so, leaving reheating instructions with the frozen dishes.
Sims will continue serving her personal chef clients, but can now work her magic on the 10-burner Vulcan gas stove that looks as if it requires the operator wear protective head gear and hold a special operating license.
Last week, in addition to cooking for her regular clients, she was orchestrating a meal for 200 and a private St. Patrick's Day dinner party to be held at the home of a University of Michigan administrator. She can now do much of the prep work on the giant stainless steel table in her new kitchen, storing groceries in the humongous refrigerator and high-tech freezer before the events.
Her kitchen at home is nothing to wave a whisk at, either. Two years ago, her home was featured on television's "All-Star Kitchen Makeovers."
Sims grew up in New York City surrounded by neighbors cooking ethnic food and shared a table with her world traveled mother and an interesting cache of friends.
"I always wanted to be a chef, cooking for my mom nearly every day, but it really wasn't an option since it was all about academics for me at the time," said Sims who is a graduate of Oberlin College. "By the time I finally applied to Schoolcraft, I had a drawer-full of culinary school applications. "
Sims worked for 10 years as an Internet project manager before making her career move, earning a two-year degree at Schoolcraft College in Livonia.
"I was skeptical, but Schoolcraft was an amazing place. I had the chance to work as a sous chef after classes and later worked with Eve (Aronoff, a regional celebrity chef and owner of Eve restaurant in Ann Arbor)," Sims said.
Sims believes in beautiful, fresh food and offers a never-ending variety of menus. She is hoping to offer prepared lunches from the shop this summer and is creating cooking classes that will focus on flavor profiling and technique.
"Once you learn to evaluate a recipe and how flavor profiles work, you can do anything in the kitchen. I want to show people it's really not a big deal to cook lovely food," she said.
"We are trying to figure out what works in the space and what works in the community. There are just so many possibilities."
Visit the Web site www.skiptomyroux.com for course information, menus and all of Sims' tasty news.
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