Paul Bott, Executive Chef and Event Designer started out in this business with a little inspiration. The inspiration to develop his own business occurred one day, years ago when he was the recipient of a bouquet. "I got started after being inspired by a gift given to me of a beautiful bouquet of flowers. This was way back in 1981 and I was so touched that it reminded me of what inspired me as a kid,  growing up with my parents and all of the great and beautiful parties they gave."

These included parties produced by Paul’s father, who ironically was a jet mechanic for United Airlines. "My father stared out as a jet mechanic for United, one of the very first jet mechanics, but he had such enthusiasm, he was soon asked to take on an additional role." Paul explains that that additional role was to orchestrate parties for the employees’ Mainliner Club, and Paul got to tag along. But, these weren’t your typical parties; for these affairs, it was not uncommon to have 50,000 guests. "Eventually my dad was the President of this club and worked on events full time."

However, this was not the only early party-planning inspiration Paul recalls. "My parents did fabulous parties too. I used to sit on the stairs, listen to the ice cubes clinking in the glasses, listen to people talk, I loved the smell of the food my mom would prepare, it was all so exciting to me."  Soon, even as young boy, he began to cook. "I had a huge interest in cooking as a little boy." Paul laughed, "I was a precocious, unstoppable force of a child. I used to wear the pots and pans on my head and I even tried to make my own wine!"

At 6 years old, this "precocious child" actually went to work in the food-related industry. "I used to run off after school and go to the growing fields and would get to pick strawberries and beans, I made 90 cents a day!!! Then I got a job at a farmer's market selling produce, and I did so much business the booth owner had to open a second booth."

Then, he graduated to working in restaurants, where again, his natural culinary leanings shown through. "At my restaurant jobs," Paul says, "they always put me in the kitchen." And with those experiences, next he was off to France to work in the kitchen on a private yacht owned by one of the world’s richest men. Fortunately, that is for Paul, the yacht’s head chef had a habit of too frequently dipping into the cooking wine, and Paul was frequently left in charge of singlehandedly preparing all the meals.   

His next job landed him in the kitchen too. "I was hired as a groundskeeper for a French household," he explains. But soon, he was in the kitchen cooking. "That’s when I learned to cook from scratch," he says. "Today I still do it exactly the same way. Nothing is out of a can."

Being a highly-sought after chef now would be accomplishment enough, but Paul’s expertise seems to go on and on. But the truly amazing part is that in all areas, he is self-taught. For instance, Paul recalls the day he decided he could learn floral design. "While having lunch in a restaurant one day, I noticed that the flowers on the table were awful!" Not being a shy person, on his way out Paul very nicely mentioned this fact to the manager. "The manager asked me if I could do better," he says. "Which I said ‘yes,’ and I was in there with arrangements the next morning at 7 a.m."

Paul’s "classroom" in which he was both student and teacher was never-ending, and soon in addition to chef and florist, he had added caterer and event designer to his repertoire too. "It’s very difficult for me to decide how to describe myself," he says with a laugh, "I just love entertaining, I love giving this way. It is church for me. I love to cook and prepare and serve, simple stuff maybe, but it means everything to me.