I, Polly Legendre, am La Gourmande. Having decided to become a chef at the age of 12, I moved to France for 9 years to pursue my culinary dreams. I became the first American to graduate from the Ecole Supérieure de Cuisine Française, and was among the first women to ever work in some of the world famous restaurants in Paris.

After cooking at multi Michelin starred restaurants such as la Tour d’Argent, Henri Faugeron and the Hotel Crillon, I returned to my native Northern California to share my acquired knowledge. I found an audience who appreciates not only haute cuisine, but also being able to entertain in the privacy of their own homes. I, La Gourmande, make this possible by providing up scale, personal chef service.

By discretion, I will only list a sample of corporate clients, and at no time, list private events.

Some of my corporate clients include:
Cerus Corporation
KPMG
San Francisco Symphony
Kaiser Permanente
College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Berkeley
Sephora
San Francisco Metropolitan League
French-American International School, San Francisco
Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley
Transparent Theater, Berkeley
Women’s Business Connection of Lamorinda