Personal chef takes on a team of hungry athletes

Sara Myron prepares cuisine for members of the Deaflympics team

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

Sara Myron considers herself a traveling chef. Her Gig Harbor business as a personal chef takes her to clients’ kitchens, where she prepares healthy meals for individuals and families. But this summer, she literally took her show on the road.

In July, Myron did back-to-back gigs in the Deep South. In New Orleans, she cooked for the USPCA National Conference.

In Austin, Texas, she was the head chef for athletes who were training for the Deaflympics in Tai Pei, Taiwan.

Both projects included working long hours in an industrial-sized kitchen, whipping out huge amounts of food for large groups of people. They also involved spur-of-the-moment planning, because she didn’t know how the kitchen would be set up until she got on site.

Both jobs were a dream come true.

“I wish I could do this all the time,” Myron said. “I’ve always worked for large groups of people. I love it.”

Myron said she was a basically a personal chef before she even knew what the term was.

“I’d been cooking for 15 years through the church,” she said. “And I’d always cooked big meals for the church and families that they could put in their refrigerator or freezer. I didn’t know it then, but that’s exactly what a personal chef does.”

She started her own business in 2005 under the name “My Chef Sara.” Volunteering on missionary trips to Mexico or Jamaica gave her the experience she needed for the unique and challenging assignment of dishing up meals for world-class athletes at the Texas School for the Deaf, which was hosting the training camp for the Deaflympics this summer.

“All the teams for track and field were together from all over the U.S.,” Myron said. “It was a residential school with a huge cafeteria. It was like a college campus.”

Myron headed for Texas with her daughter, Deanna Myron, who took three years of American Sign Language in high school.

“At first it was awkward,” Deanna said. “They picked us up at the airport in a van and they were all signing to each other. One girl was trying to interpret. It took us a couple days to get used to it.”

The mother-and-daughter team immediately was struck by the genuine warmth and openness of the athletes.

“They really made an effort to communicate with us,” Deanna said. “They really wanted to get to know us. They were such warm people.”

The Myrons settled into their “rather rustic” quarters on the hot, humid campus. A typical day consisted of waking up at 5:30 a.m. to be in the kitchen by 6 a.m. Myron wanted to have plenty of time to prepare and cook the meals for the athletes by 8 a.m.

“We’d have steamed oatmeal, skillet potatoes, egg dishes or French toast,” she said. “It was like a mission trip.

“I’m not against working hard. If I need to mop the floors, I mop the floors.”

After breakfast, it was time to start preparing for the next meal. Throughout the week, Myron never left the campus.

The team finished off 10 pounds of red potatoes and 400 eggs in five days. The trick was to prepare good, healthy, delicious food that was appetizing, Myron said.

“They didn’t want to be eating the same thing every day,” she said. “At the same time, it had to be nutritious, but not diet food. These were athletes, so they needed plenty of protein and carbs.”

The pair cooked for 20 athletes, but they prepared enough food for the rest of the cooking staff, which was working in different parts of the kitchen on food for the rest of the college campus.

The Myrons said they were paid back with what they believe will be long-lasting friendships. They got a chance to meet incredible athletes — some world-record holders in their field.

The Deaflympics does not receive the attention as the regular Olympics, and the athletes usually have to raise their own funds, Myron said.

“There were about 4,000 athletes from around the world competing, and only about 20 were from the U.S.,” she said. “What breaks my heart is that they deserve a lot of applause and recognition.”

“These were super-talented, top-notch athletes, and they have no ego at all,” Deanna Myron said. “One of them won a gold medal.”

Deanna said that, after the camp, it was actually easier to communicate through e-mail.

“We e-mail back and forth all the time,” she said. “It’s easier because there’s no language barrier. I want to keep in touch with all of them.”

U.S. athletes have strong showing in Deaflympics

The U.S. Athletics team brought home 10 medals in the Deaflympics, including third place in Athletics in Tai Pei, Taiwan. For more information on medal winners, visit www.usdeaflympics.org.

Reach Lifestyles Coordinator and reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.