Sophia Rae
Keshia Hay was exploring Paris when she found her calling.
She had just graduated from O’More College of Design with a degree in fashion design and merchandising and was traveling there with fellow classmates on an art and architecture tour. But it was the food that struck her. All it took was one bite of an elegant and fragrant rose and raspberry-flavored French torte called a gateau St. Honoré.
“It was everything. That buttery flaky pastry. It literally changed my life,” she says.
Today, she’s the chef behind Sip N Bite, a popular private chef business that she launched in 2014. Typically, Hay comes to you for in-home meal prep and catering for small to large home gatherings; her mission is to take clients on a sensorial journey that goes far beyond food. She considers every component from plating and florals to table décor and wine. Her eye for style and design can be seen on every plate. The Nashville native has been in the kitchen since age 5 when she was making herself and her friends after-school snacks.
“A good friend back then really encouraged me to cook, and made it feel like ‘something to be when I grow up,’” she says.
Although her early passion was fashion, the trip to France sealed her fate in food. Hay had gone to bartending school and took a job at Belle Meade Country Club while she was also attending O’More. She was quickly promoted to Day Bartender.
Alyssa Joy Photography
“As far as I know, I was one of the first black women Day Bartenders inside the Men’s Grille at that country club,” she says.
In her role, she was able to watch, learn, and collaborate with the kitchen, especially during events, weddings, and cocktail parties.
“It was where I started really soaking up that food knowledge. I would ask questions, watch, taste. It was a pivotal time for my culinary training.”
After several years of bouncing between other restaurant jobs, she started baking as a side hustle—the first dollar she earned encouraged her to keep going. In 2014, she started private cheffing while juggling other part-time jobs until a mentor and friend, Sophia Rea of Projet Chocolate, encouraged her to sit down and focus on her own business full-time. Rea had her write out her goals and mission and Hay instantly called up her O’More training.
“They taught me how to be in the business of being creative,” she says.
In 2019, her business became an LLC. And then, all too quickly, COVID-19 hit—with quarantine, she wasn’t able to go into people’s homes but still wanted to provide meals for them. So, she quickly pivoted and launched a virtual supper club experience instead. The SNB Virtual Supper Club is a limited weekly service—Hay prepares just 12 meals made from locally sourced produce and ingredients each week. She works from creative monthly themes (there was April in Paris and a tribute to Frida Kahlo in May) and the meals change week to week—it might be an elevated picnic lunch, a sweet and savory brunch, or a simple, decadent dinner.
Hay posts the menus on her Instagram stories each weekend for the following week’s meal. And, she provides a number of add-ons, including a virtual experience, #dinewiththeshef [sic] on Zoom, where she brings in one or more of her many collaborators to discuss the inspiration behind the meal.
The personal touches, design elements, and learning opportunities are what define Hay’s meals services. That, and her collaborations with other experts. For example, she often partners with florist Kelsey White to provide bud vases and tea lights, Viviana Luison, an Italian wine expert, to provide suggested pairings, and Rhonda Cammon of Perfectly Cordial, to provide cocktail recipes. By tapping into her community of makers, chefs, farmers, and drink experts, Hay makes each thoughtfully crafted menu feel like a private dinner party. Hay says she’ll stick with preparing virtual supper clubs until her private chef jobs pick back up, and probably into the future. But long term, she’s dreaming big.
“My ultimate goal is to have an Ina Garten-esque kitchen, home, and garden,” she says. “To be able to [cook], entertain guests and clients, and host dinners and garden parties—I want to welcome people into our home and show them love one bite at a time.”
Sip N Bite; @SNBvirtualsupperclub; @sip_n_bite_cocktail