Executive Chef Ashley Olsen talked herself out of culinary school twice before leaving her corporate career to start a personal chef business.

Now, Olsen and her team of chefs, servers and a delivery driver at Southern with a French Twist aim to help the Central Texas community connect at the dinner table.

What’s in a name

Years before she launched her business, Olsen bought the domain name southernwithafrenchtwist.com. She had a feeling she was going to do something with it one day.

“It stems from a deeper connection to both how people in France and very much in Europe make gathering a part of their daily life,” Olsen said. “It's frequent, it's delicious, it's very much a community-heavy environment, and it's very much that way in the American South, which is where I grew up.”


Olsen grew up in Kentucky and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville College of Business. She graduated from the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Austin at the beginning of the pandemic.

Her love for hospitality and the dinner table connections she grew up with inspired her to start Southern with a French Twist in November 2020. She said she hopes to build dining experiences where people can “take a deep breath and connect with others.”

“You just leave so much more fulfilled,” Olsen said. “Not just physically from eating well, but emotionally. Connecting with that person over that meal, I just think, is a life-changing moment. I want to build a company that creates those environments throughout our community.”

What they offer


Southern with a French Twist provides private dinner parties, weekly personal chef services, private inflight catering and elevated catering services at small-scale events like cocktail parties, brunches and baby showers.

Olsen said dinner parties are their most popular service, and that she’s passionate about allowing hosts to be guests at their own parties.

“I love being able to see somebody who loves welcoming people into their home and giving them the gift of letting them trust us to host on their behalf," Olsen said. "They can just be a guest and enjoy being around their friends and family. I think that's the most rewarding thing.”
Dinner party hosts can choose from Southern with a French Twist's menu of desserts featuring cake, pudding and more. (Courtesy Southern with a French Twist)
Dinner party hosts can choose from Southern with a French Twist's menu of desserts featuring cake, pudding and more. (Courtesy Southern with a French Twist)
Southern with a French Twist chefs cook seasonally. Menus include appetizers like the popular pimento cheese tarts with whiskey bacon jam, main courses like the beef filet with bourbon cream sauce and desserts like the pear almond olive oil cake with cinnamon vanilla crème anglaise.

Olsen said the blend of Southern and French cuisines is “elevated but approachable,” so the client and guests can relax and enjoy the meal.
Olsen said she and her team of chefs cook seasonally and offer three menus throughout the year: a winter, spring/summer and fall holiday menu. (Courtesy Southern with a French Twist)
Olsen said she and her team of chefs cook seasonally and offer three menus throughout the year: a winter, spring/summer and fall holiday menu. (Courtesy Southern with a French Twist)
“Feeding people is a love language, but the community is the other half that kind of completes the circle,” she said.


Southern with a French Twist serves the Hill Country corridor from North San Antonio to Austin. Olsen said they also travel to hunting ranches in South and West Texas.