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About Us
About Us...
Our Mission Statement
At My Kitchen, we are committed to providing to time-starved people, healthy, nutritious food prepared the way you would at home if you had the time, made with fresh ingredients, utmost care, and using the highest standards of hygiene and sanitation. We are also committed to creating lifelong memories of beautifully catered events, with fabulous food, wonderful presentation, and personalized service. We believe in honest pricing and give you one inclusive price that respects your budget and covers everything that is a normal part of the job – even necessary staff and service charges.
Unlike most caterers and meal preparation services, we respect your healthy decisions by offering special meals for diabetics, as well as those wishing to follow a heart-healthy low glycemic regime, vegetarian, lite, and low sodium.
Meet Our Key Personnel
Nancy Hartwell, owner/executive chef, realized that there was a crying need for a gourmet but health-conscious meal preparation service while she was working for a large consulting company in downtown Washington, D.C. Nearly every evening she would hear a colleague lament, “I have nothing to eat in the house, don’t feel like going grocery shopping at this late hour, and I’m so sick of pizza and Chinese I could scream.” This need, plus her lifelong passion for cooking, prompted her to create My Kitchen.
Growing up in Tampa, her grandmother (a professional baker) taught her how to cook as soon as she was old enough to hold a spoon, and by the age of ten she was preparing family meals and making jelly rolls and cakes on her own. She graduated from the School of International Service at The American University, married a leading Cameroonian attorney, and lived in Cameroon for 14 years. While there, among other pursuits, she owned a bakery, and was commissioned to make the wedding cake for the President’s daughter, for 5,000 guests. Upon returning to the U.S., she worked in international trade, on Capitol Hill, and in international development. She has traveled to 44 countries and collected recipes in almost all of them. “I don’t care where it comes from, if it tastes good, we’ll make it,” she says with a smile. “I’ll never live long enough to try out all the wonderful recipes on this planet, but I’m giving it a try!”
Emmanuel N. Ayissi, head chef, began cooking as a child, much to the consternation of his mother. She quickly discovered the advantages of having a son who loved to cook, however. With her encouragement, he graduated with honors from culinary school in Yaounde, Cameroon, specializing in French cuisine. He soon made a name for himself as a highly talented chef who would not compromise quality for the sake of convenience. Besides operating his own catering service, he worked in several fine French restaurants in Yaounde. He attracted the notice of the IMF representative in Yaounde, who recruited him as his Head Chef, and thereafter he became – at age 25 – Head Chef for the Ambassador of Cameroon in Washington, D.C. In this capacity he organized events for hundreds of guests and supervised a staff of up to 40. He has been with My Kitchen since its inception, and has impressed clients with his devotion to perfection, beautiful presentations, and consistent high quality. “Making people’s stomachs happy is absolutely the best job in the world,” he says.
How To Find Us
Our address is
19209-M Chennault Way
Gaithersburg, MD 20879
We are located in the Gaithersburg Airpark area.
From I-270:
Take either Exit 8, Shady Grove Road, or Exit 9, I-370, going east. If you are on I-370, when it ends take Shady Grove Road east. Continue on Shady Grove until the name changes to Airpark Road (change occurs at MD 115). Go approx 2 more miles. Get in left lane (not left turn lane); cross MD 124 (Woodfield Road). Go two more blocks and turn right onto Chennault (daycare center is on the intersection where you turn). Take the first spur of Chennault up a small hill – watch for our small sign stuck in the ground and make sure the building has red awnings. Unit M is about ¾ the way down on the right.
From Silver Spring or D.C.:
Take 16th Street north until it merges into Georgia Avenue (MD 97) in Silver Spring. Continue on MD 97 past Leisure World on the right. Get in right-hand left turn lane and turn left onto MD 28 (Norbeck), then an immediate right onto MD 115 (Muncaster Mill). Take 115 all the way up to Airpark Road, where you will turn right (fire station on the left, big church on the right). Go approx 2 more miles. Get in left lane (not left turn lane); cross MD 124 (Woodfield Road). Go two more blocks and turn right onto Chennault (daycare center is on the intersection where you turn). Take the first spur of Chennault up a small hill – watch for our small sign stuck in the ground and make sure the building has red awnings. Unit M is about ¾ the way down on the right.
From Baltimore and points north:
Take I-95 South. Exit onto MD 32 going west toward Columbia, then take MD 108 toward Clarksburg. Turn left onto Fieldcrest, then left on MD 124 (Woodfield). Turn right onto Airpark Road. Go two more blocks and turn right onto Chennault (daycare center is on the intersection where you turn). Take the first spur of Chennault up a small hill – watch for our small sign stuck in the ground and make sure the building has red awnings. Unit M is about ¾ the way down on the right.
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