Home cooking makes all the difference, according to Jeremy Bartsch.

This is the idea behind Jeremy and his wife, Monica’s, unique personal chef service, J & M’s Private Cooking Service, an in-home convenience designed to simplify mealtimes at clients’ homes.

“My favorite thing is to take the time to cook a meal and get it right,” Jeremy said. “I like to watch them lean back and smile and I have satisfaction from that.”

The couple comes to a client’s home, buys the groceries, prepares the meal, serves it around the family’s dining room table and cleans up the mess.

“It’s the one place family comes together, and it all comes together at the dinner table,” Jeremy said. “It’s the one place you can be a family.”

Having families eat together is only part of the idea behind the service. As a busy mom herself, Monica says it gives parents some down time in their schedules, an opportunity to eat the food that is right for them and their children and a chance to eat more healthy meals.

Main dishes include roasted pork or beef tenderloin; apple smoked pork chops with apple reduction sauce; pan-seared chicken breast with blackberry sauce; meatloaf; and bacon wrapped filet mignon. Side dishes include Duchess potatoes, risotto, rice pilaf, baked asparagus, orange-carrot supreme, butter steamed yellow and green squash and creamy mashed potatoes.

“These are the main dishes we offer, but if people have any other ideas they are welcome to talk to us about it,” Jeremy said. “We also can plan a specialty menu around any dietary concerns, such as a diabetic meal, that has low fat and low sugar.”

Grocery shopping is provided by J & M. Each client receives a personalized menu selection, preparation of entrees/and or side dishes, packaging and labeling of the food, detailed heating instructions, thorough cleanup after each meal and packaged leftovers in their refrigerator.

The Bartsches say the business is about the convenience of chef-prepared meals in the home at a cost that is budget friendly. For a three-course romantic dinner for two, including wine or non-alcoholic specialty drinks, the cost is around $75.

“Most of the time you would have to drive to Chattanooga or Atlanta, so you save on the gas part, and we do all of the cleanup,” Jeremy said.

Jeremy is enrolled at the International Culinary Schools at The Art Institute of Atlanta, working on his culinary degree, and has more than 18 years of experience cooking in the food service industry.

J&M focuses on romantic dinners for two, family meals, meals for busy weeks and other customized in-home food menus. Jeremy explained that the business is not a catering service or a take-out service; it’s something in-between, and it’s a concept that the Bartsches hope will flourish.

For more information, call 706-629-2602 or email jmsprivatecooking@yahoo.com.