There is art in food. There is art in cooking.

This Smart Woman Conversation with Judith Service Montier takes us from corporate event planning (and working with a big celebrity), to being an entrepreneur, working with your husband.

Judith is that consummate business professional who brings the science of being in business to the art of her husband Chez Montier's world of food. This is a sophisticated world of food, where flavor is obvious in the design, the tantalizing aroma, the experience of good food melting in your mouth. 

As we chat about her work in corporate America, and event planning with celebrities (I think she is one!), we learn that the concept of "the gift of food in every bite" is an important part of what Judith does now. And, it mirrors what she did then.

Leap of faith.

That's what she says she took with her when she left her "job" to become an entrepreneur with her creative husband, Chef Juan. He is the art, she is the science. As the Chief Operating Office of Chez Montier, Judith brings more than experience, she brings a commitment to the journey.

This is boutique catering. There needs to be balance and harmony, as we all know that food is an integral part of life - which is ever about balance and harmony.

I love that they say Chef Juan is "balloons in the air" while Judith is "feet on the ground."

But, let us understand that she brings a big of her own creativity here. In her design, I believe Judith offers the backdrop to Chef Juan's color & creativity. How often do we, as human beings, overlook the backdrop or background, allowing our eyes to devour the deliciousness of the living image in the center of any portrait?

And yet, the backdrop illuminates the images we see. The backdrop provides the context and leads our eye where it should go. As a woman who designs the "backdrop" for Chez Montier, Judith is a genius! Watch our conversation to learn why I say that.

Feast Your Eyes

As the image above demonstrates, our eyes eat before our mouth does. Chef Montier says that, so Judith tells us in the video. He's more than a crafter of food - he's a smart man. He gets the nuances of why we eat and why what we eat attracts us if it's beautiful to look at. He portrays the understanding of "sophisticated flavor" - that inner need we have for food that will please our palate and our eyes at the same time. 

Visit the link here for his book, Designing the Gift of Food. The book gives us a scrumptious look inside the mind of a man who wants us to enjoy our food, visually first, secondly through taste. I have always believed those who cook, and cook well, are magnificent designers of joy and aesthetics, given their ability to design the creation of food much the way an artist with a paint brush, I think, designs the painting hung in a gallery. Chef Montier's work proves my point. 

Listen and enjoy. Watch and learn. I leave you with this question: how hungry are you?

(p.s. more about the book is shared in the video. you must watch to see! talk about wonderful! my mouth drools!)