Private Provisions is the work of our family—shaped by years in restaurant kitchens, a belief in thoughtful hospitality, and a life built around feeding people.
THE CHEF BEHIND THE TABLE
THE HEART BEHIND THE TABLE
My story begins in Fort Campbell, Tennessee, where my dad was stationed during Desert Storm. Because of my family’s military ties, I was fortunate to travel from coast to coast—and that movement continued when Ivan and I began building a family of our own.
Each of our four children was born in a different state. And yes, I said four. Samuel was born in New Orleans, Louisiana; Luke in San Diego, California; Mila in Detroit, Michigan, where I spent much of my childhood; and Estela here in Dallas, Texas.
With every move came new people, places and traditions. Everywhere we lived, I learned something from the people who welcomed us: how they cooked, how they gathered and what they placed on the table for the people they loved. I carried pieces of those experiences with me, and over time they became part of what I brought to Luke’s Southern Diner.
At Luke’s I started small—writing social media posts and email updates and helping with events and Supper Club. Over time, I grew into the role of General Manager, often with baby Estela strapped to me while I worked.
My story is one of family, movement and learning to make a home wherever we landed. Every place we have lived has left something with us, and we have carried those pieces forward into the life and table we are building today.
Private Provisions allows me to bring that same spirit to your wedding: caring for the details, welcoming your people and helping two families feel at home around one table.
Chef Ivan Aguilar started in New York, in kitchens that didn't leave room for shortcuts — Aureole and Andanada 141, both Michelin-starred. From there he went to Charleston, cooking at Husk and Parcel 32, where he fell hard for Lowcountry and Southern coastal cooking. Detroit came next: he helped open Barda, a wood-fired restaurant that ended up a James Beard finalist for Best New Restaurant.
He moved to Texas after his and Melanie's third child was born, to be closer to family. He joined Duro Hospitality and helped open El Carlos Elegante in Dallas — Michelin-recommended, and Eater Dallas's Restaurant of the Year its first year out.
Ivan's mother and sister had been teaching in Greenville ISD for years and loved the community, and that's what pulled the family east. In February 2025, they opened Luke's — named after their middle son — as a family. Melanie runs the front of house; Ivan runs the kitchen. It's a neighborhood diner built around the food they wanted to serve every day: made from scratch, generous, familiar.
MICHELIN-LEVEL COOKING. WITHOUT THE FORMALITY
SEASONALITY.
TECHNIQUE.
THOUGHTFUL SOURCING.
A POINT OF VIEW.
The lessons we took from fine dining were never about white tablecloths or formality. They were about discipline: respecting seasonality, sourcing thoughtfully, building menus with intention, and understanding that the smallest details often separate something good from something memorable.
We bring those same standards to Private Provisions. Every Journey begins with a clear culinary point of view, then evolves around the season, the setting, and the people we are cooking for. Sauces are made properly. Vegetables are treated with the same attention as the centerpiece of the table. Menus are considered as a whole, so each course belongs to the one before it and the one that follows.
What we leave behind is the pretense. This is food meant to be passed, shared, talked over, and enjoyed generously. We believe serious cooking can still feel warm and familiar—and that the technique behind a dish should never be more important than the people gathered around it.
The standards of a fine-dining kitchen. The generosity of a family table.
How Luke's Led to
Private Provisions
Luke's was supposed to be breakfast and lunch. But guests kept asking for more — birthdays, family gatherings, private dinners, and eventually full weddings. At the same time, Ivan missed the kind of cooking Luke's didn't call for: the technique, the courses, the fine-dining discipline he'd spent over a decade building in kitchens like Aureole, Barda, and El Carlos Elegante.
Private Provisions is what came out of both of those things at once — a place to say yes to the celebrations people kept asking for, and a way for Ivan to keep cooking at that level. Same family, same kitchen, just a more refined expression of it.
Cook with care. Serve generously. Give people a reason to gather.