Meet Chef Mike
Bringing families back to the dinner table
Family Table LLC is a family-style, meal delivery service founded by chef Michael Harding with the chief mission of “bringing families back to the dinner table.” From a young age, making food was always something that intrigued Michael (his family of clients affectionately know him as Chef Mike). He loved helping his family in the kitchen which led to watching cooking shows like Yan Can Cook, The Frugal Gourmet, Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. Watching these idols ramped up his passion for cooking. He knew by the age of nine that if he couldn’t become a professional athlete, he wanted to be a chef! Well as you can probably guess since you aren’t currently on a pro sports teams website, Michael’s dreams of a pro athlete just wouldn’t come true, but his real dream to be a professional chef would--but not without some slight detours. Upon graduating high school, he was dissuaded from going to culinary school; Instead, Michael got an associates degree in financial services from the local community college where he promptly went to work in...a print shop! What the…!? Where did THAT come from!? Michael needed a job as he was engaged to be married to his highschool sweetheart, Liz.
After working at the print shop and Michael’s brother attending culinary school, Michael decided to pursue his dreams of becoming a chef. He put his two week notice in and was part of the next class at The Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts (Pennsylvania Culinary). He was nominated by his instructors to be inducted into the school’s culinary honor society and graduated Cum Laude in the summer of 1997. Shortly after graduating, Michael was contacted by the school to interview to be the private chef for the owner and founder of Pennsylvania Culinary. He interviewed and has been cooking for their family for over 20 years, watching their children grow up, get married and have children of their own. He went on to work in a number of different avenues in the world of food from being a food service director for a school and executive chef at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC; however, Chef Mike always circled back to his real love of feeding and nourishing families. Chef Mike loves cooking for the families, and he sees how it helps them have quality family time they otherwise would never have. A structured family meal brings the whole family together at least once a day to not only fill their bellies with good, wholesome, homemade food like mom would make, but it brings them together to talk about the day, nourishing their hearts and souls as well!
Michael and Liz, a registered nurse working in home health, had two amazing children (Tyler and Morgan) and with that, incredibly busy lives. Michael was busy cooking for other families while Liz worked as a nurse. Then, after work, all the activities the kids were in: soccer, baseball, band concerts and more soccer! He, of all people, a chef, found it difficult to provide for his own family in the way he would provide for the ones he worked for. Chef Mike had an epiphany--why cook for only one family when so many have the exact same needs? Wholesome, home-style meals, like mom would make that not only filled his belly, but comforted his soul. He made it his mission, his life's work, to feed families and bring them back to the dinner table. Family Table is a local start-up, by a local kid, showing his love to other families with his food--just like his mom would. In his “downtime,” Chef Mike loves to spend time doing anything with his family, watching sports, being outside and loves going on "phishing" trips.