A candid conversation with one of the Playboy Mansions head chefs about Hugh Hefners unique dining regimen and tuhat Playmates really eat after hours
You probably suspected that life at the Playboy Mansion tastes good, but it is Daniel Vanden Berge'sjob to make it delectable. As the Executive Sous Chef on a staff of 11 full-time chefs, Vanden Berge keeps the flavor fresh for Hef, his guests and Playmates staying at the Mansion. The 40-year-old Los Angeles native got things cooking early, at the age of seven, when he began baking chocolate chip cookies every day for his family. Chef Dan, who now works the dinner shift and has been at Playboy 20 years, helps run the kitchen as if it were in a five-star restaurant with one VIP guest: Hef.
PLAYBOY: So what does the world's number one playboy eat? VANDEN BERGE: He has a book of 26 meals that he looks at, and it doesn't change from that. Everything is numbered, so he'll call down and say, "I want a number three." We even have a fridge dedicated to Mr. Hefner. He likes really Midwestern, down-home cooking like his mom used to make. His favorites are lamb chops, fried chicken, corn on the cob and mashed potatoes. For dessert, his favorite thing right now is banana cream pie. He drinks milk with every meal, so we keep glasses frozen in the freezer so the milk is ice cold. It's very regimented. PLAYBOY: Is where and when he eats also regimented?
VANDEN BERGE: Yes. His breakfast will start anywhere from 10:30 to about 12:30, which would be grapefruit and an English muffin. Lunch will be between Five
and 6:30, and he'll eat dinner anywhere from nine to midnight. Typically, he eats up in his room. He's very engrossed in television and movies, so he'll watch something while he's eating. PLAYBOY: How many people do you have to cook for every day? VANDEN BERGE: We have to feed all the employees their breakfast, lunch and dinner, so a regular day crew would be 40 to 50 people. Parties can go up to a couple hundred, depending on the size of the party. We can have up to 20 chefs on duty working the main kitchen and the outside kitchen. We have two storerooms underneath the Mansion that are like little grocery stores, stocked with everything we need for backup for the week.
PLAYBOY: What happens when Hef dines out?
VANDEN BERGE: If he goes out, we'll send lamb chops to the restaurant so everything is as close as possible to being at home for him. We make the sauce for it; we send the baked potato. All they've got to do is bake it. We've had only one restaurant that wouldn't accommodate us, saying, "Well, our lamb has to be better." It's like, but if it's not better, Hef won't be coming back.
PLAYBOY: You used to work the graveyard shift, and the Mansion kitchen is open all night. You must have gotten some strange requests. vanden berge: The guests who are stay-
ing here, such as the Playmates, can order anything we have in-house at any time. Everything's ready to roll. We used to have these girls who would come in late and just order 20, 30 things. They'd want scrambled eggs with cheese, oatmeal, a bean burrito, Chinese chicken salad, sushi, a ham sandwich...just because they'd been partying or doing whatever and wanted to snack on a bunch of things.
PLAYBOY: Since a lot of these women pose naked, do you ever steer them away from bad food choices?
VANDEN BERGE: A lot of times these girls are very diet oriented. But we sometimes give a little advice, like, "It's a little heavy. You're going to look bloated." Usually what happens, right after the shoot, a Playmate will say, "Oh, I just want this and this and this and can you give me that?" So that's when they let loose. PLAYBOY: What else would a new chef need to know before starting at the Mansion? VANDEN BERGE: We have a book of photographs that show where everything should be positioned on the tray before it is presented to Mr. Hefner. The main entree has to be on the lower portion of the plate and everything has to be set on his tray a specific way. The applesauce will be top left, plate center. The bread has to go to the right-hand side of the plate and the hash browns to the left, just below the applesauce. The glass of milk is always top right.
