The Homestead Chef

Real Food, Real Fast!

About the Chef

Meet Gord Johnson, chef-owner of The Homestead Chef.

Gord was chief cook at home for the better part of fifteen years. Not coincidentally, he's been married for twenty years. He strongly recommends that all guys learn to make a signature dish early on. He used Duck a l'orange on the 2nd date - she married him!

While Gord has held a variety of jobs, the kitchen always remained his real inspiration. There he could create, test, and share wonderful meals with family and friends.

For the 2 1/2 years he was in the Seattle area, he worked on his "self-taught cooking degree" at home, practicing the skills commonly taught in formal environments then using these skills to host a variety of dinner parties and events. He spent significant time on the art of creating entrées that freeze well and heat beautifully.

During that time, and continuing through to the first part of 2004, he worked with the American Personal Chef Association, an affinity group of personal chefs. During the time he was affiliated with them, he worked as a Personal Chef, and worked with them as their Director of Program Development.

When he moved back to Canada, he started The Homestead Chef.

Originally, The Homestead Chef was destined to be exclusively a Personal Chef service, where he achieved success and recognition in the Calgary area. During that time, he was hired by a TV station to do cooking spots, and was hired as the chef for Debra Winger when she was in Calgary for a movie. As well, he worked for a number of new and return clients.

Along the way, Gord has come to believe, however, that everyone needs better food - especially families! His goal has evolved to include providing more affordable, high quality meals that don't contain all the chemicalized ingredients so often found in restaurant foods or grocery store quick-serve meal solutions. He feels that children, especially, benefit from eating high-quality whole foods. He has a theory about chemicals in food and children that every parent should hear!

Additionally, he's been servicing an increased demand in the Calgary area and north, for high quality catering services based on real food (rather than pre-packaged, re-branded manufactured products). The Homestead Chef provides catering services both directly to clients and indirectly as the exclusive contractor for the Carstairs Co-op Marketplace catering division.

Whether you choose Meals in Minutes, the Personal Chef service, or Catering services, the ultimate goal is for you to have a great dining experience. As the slogan (supplied by his 8-year-old son) says:

Real Food, Real Fast!

I look forward to hearing from you so we can make that goal a reality.