

Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Numprasong.
Thomas, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started my Culinary journey in the early 90’s when I was 12 years old. My parents owned a restaurant and in the summers I would go to work with them. Throughout high school I worked in various restaurants but had no intentions on making it a career. Afterwards I had no plans on going to college but my father said I had to or he’d kick me out of the house. In 2005 I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Baking & Pastry Arts Degree from Johnson & Wales in Providence RI. During my time at school I worked in fine dining Bed & Breakfast style boutique hotels, Foxwoods Casinos, and also spent a summer in South East Asia attending culinary schools in Bangkok Thailand and Singapore. When I came back to the states I worked at the Four Seasons Hotel, spent a year as a Corporate Pastry Sous Chef for Concentrics Restaurant Group, and then 3 years as the Exec. Pastry Chef at Canoe. I taught Baking & Pastry at Le Cordon Bleu in Atlanta for 6 years until they closed in 2017. Since then I have been running my own business called Temo Foods, which specializes in private events, cooking classes, weekly meal prep, and artisan chocolates.
Has it been a smooth road?
Running a business is much more involved than just being a Chef. Chefs are creative but not all are great with accounting, marketing, web design, or customer service for example. Learning how to handle all of the additional elements of a business has been quite challenging. It has definitely been an eye opener but I’ve also learned a lot in the process. Luckily, since my parents owned a restaurant, I knew ahead of time what kind of work went into it so I’ve been very careful in my decision making when it comes to how my business operates.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Temo Foods story. Tell us more about the business.
Temo Foods offers a variety of services including Private Events, Cooking Classes, and Weekly Meal Preps. We provide restaurant level food and service in the privacy of your home or chosen location. All of the food is prepared in the home kitchen and the number of guests that we can accommodate is based on the limitations of the residential environment. So, for example, if you rented a house on the lake and wanted to have some friends over for a restaurant-style dinner party we could provide that service. If you wanted to have friends over to learn how to make a three-course Italian meal, including pasta from scratch, we could assist with that. If you’re a busy professional with a family and find that providing home cooked meals while working full time is too difficult, we can help with that as well.
In addition to this, Temo Foods now also provides Artisan Chocolates to the Metro Atlanta Area. We often have special boxes put together for the holidays but also offer a bulk order service for those that want to utilize them at dinner parties or other social gatherings.
What sets us apart from other services is our Team and our attention to detail. The Temo Foods team is composed of industry professionals who all share a passion for providing high-quality food and service regardless of the caliber. We’re not just doing this because we have bills to pay and need a job, we enjoy what we do and we want you to share the experience with us.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I definitely see some trends picking up traction in the next 5-10 years. The vegetarian route is becoming popular and alternatively, the idea of growing meat is becoming a reality as well. With technological innovations such as 3d printed food and the “do it yourself” style approach that the fast food industry is heading, there’s bound to be some major shifts coming up. Culinary Schools are closing left and right which means the food industries Pez dispenser of free labor via internships and externships is going away and/or is already gone which I think will cause a mental shift in managements approach for taking care of the people they already have.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.temofoods.com
- Phone: (404) 423 5971
- Email: CHEFTHOMASN@GMAIL.COM
- Instagram: temofoods
- Facebook: temofoods
Image Credit:
Sabrina Samuel (Head Shot)
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Nancy Smith
June 14, 2019 at 1:16 am
I have had Thomas’ chocolates. They are not only delectable but they are works of art!