Debbie Solomon Spills The Beans On What It’s Like Being Rihanna’s Personal Chef

You may have the biggest record companies on your speed dial, major design houses after your brand name, and music charts brimming with your hits, but at the end of the day, good food is what makes or breaks your mood. At least for pop-icon Rihanna it does. Debbie Solomon, who is RiRi’s first ever personal chef, talks about her experience as the pop icon’s personal chef. Read on.

Solomon, who took over prepping Rihanna’s meals four years ago, explains that being the first on the job was no piece of cake. “First was Super Bowl at her house. Deep end. Then her twenty-fifth birthday party in Hawaii. Then tour. I didn’t know what the f*ck I was doing,” Solomon told Bon Appetit.

Adding to the already chaotic whirlwind was the fact that Solomon is of Jamaican origin while Rihanna likes Barbadian and Guyanese dishes. These are pretty similar, except their names change wherever you go. So in order to get a better idea of what the singing star likes to eat, Solomon went to the ultimate authority – Rihanna’s mother.

PHOTO BY NITSA CITRINE AND TASYA VAN REE

A Moody Eater

Solomon’s schedule with her other clients is very different from how it’s like with the singer. In the chef’s words, Rihanna is a rather “moody eater”, with her meal choices fluctuating every other day. She says, “[With previous clients] I would send in a menu on a Sunday or Monday and they would pick for the week, and then I’d be able to shop and prep, but this is nothing like that. We don’t know what we’re gonna want to eat tomorrow, so why even pick today?”

That said, RiRi does have a few staples that are repeated on her menu. “Every protein that you can think of that [Rihanna] eats,” Solomon says, adding vegetables, rice, and pasta to the list. The artist also travels with a personal case of spices that includes maggi cubes, curry, jeera (cumin seeds), Old Bay seasoning, adobo, and five-spice, as well as garlic and onion granules. Anything she doesn’t have, whatever five-star hotel they’re staying in can provide.

As for herself, Debbie Solomon also likes her food cooked well. “There shouldn’t be shame in eating food,” she says. “I won’t waste my calories on bullshit. If I take a bite of something and it’s shitty to me, I’m not just going to eat it because I’m hungry. I’m going to stop eating that shitty thing.” There’s a reason why she’s Rihanna’s personal chef.

Featured Image: Cargo