Johnathan David, was featured in Issue 13 of Volume 3 in 2022. In celebration of him coming aboard the Bluff City Magazine team as a contributor, we wanted to reintroduce Chef Johnathan so our readers can be more familiar with him and his story.
Johnathan David, the owner of The Cajun Southerner, was born and raised in Memphis, Tn. He was the first valedictorian from Word of Faith Christian Academy. Read his amazing interview as he shares his inevitable path of becoming a chef,his therapy life, and his passion for entrepreneurship.
Hi Johnathan, tell us what started your love for cooking, and what was the first thing you remembered cooking?
Honestly, I didn’t start out having a desire for cooking. My parents took on the duty of caring for their grandchildren, and although I was the youngest of my siblings, I was forced to step in and be an uncle. Cooking just became what I needed to do. It was a thing of me taking care of my family and doing my part to contribute to the household. Eventually, I transitioned from helping my mom cook to preparing the meal myself.
I was around 8 or 9 and started frying chicken and fish. My parents were from Arkansas and very Southern. They taught me the technique of adding a little mustard to the cornmeal for the fish so the coating would stick.
When did you know you were meant to be a chef?
My first goal wasn’t to be a chef. I attended school to be a social worker/attorney. March 2003, my dad got injured on a job where he fell 20 feet in the air. That changed everything. I had to help my parents. I couldn’t keep up with my studies, so I quit school. It was my last semester at Crichton College, which later became Victory University.
I remember attending a church service in 2012, and the Man of God prophesied that I would be a Chef. Being a chef never crossed my mind; I never thought about it. In my mind, I was thinking, “yeah, you’re off on that one.” During the 3-hour drive home, something just hit me, and kind of got me thinking about it. Once I got home, a commercial for L’Ecole Culinaire came on the TV, and I was like, ‘okay, whatever.’
By this time, I’m taking care of my nieces and nephews; I have a full-time corporate job working for Pinnacle Airlines. I would make lunch for 4 or 5 of my co-workers. One particular time, I made Tuscan Salman over a bed of rice pilaf with asparagus, and my best friend started calling me ‘Chef Boyardee.’
Pinnacle was shutting down, and we had the option to take a severance package or continue with FedEx. I initially went over to FedEx. A week later, I went to my supervisor and asked was the severance pay still on the table. I wanted to start selling plates.
At that moment, did you feel that you had found your purpose, or was it something you wanted to take a chance on?
I still didn’t have the “passion” behind it, but I wanted to take a chance to see what would come of it. I was already giving so much to other people, my dad, my nieces, and my nephews. I was the adjunct armor bearer for pastor, singer, and songwriter Kevin Davidson. I was doing a lot for everyone else, but I wasn’t doing anything for myself. My mind wasn’t on becoming a chef, but I wanted to do something that wasn’t predicated on my environment. I took the package with a 25% penalty.
2015, I went back to that same church in Arkansas, and the MOG said to me, “you are a chef!” I just cried. That was the first time I felt I could be a chef. I believed it. That Monday, I enrolled in L’Ecole Culinaire.
What was your path like during school and after you graduated?
My mom always taught me to focus and that making friends would be a distraction. When I got to L’Ecole, I did just that. I didn’t interact. I didn’t go out for coffee. In my last semester, I offered to help with events, but at that time, I felt that I had waited too late to open up.
I graduated from culinary school in 2017. On my birthday, October 6th of that year, I created The Cajun Southerner. But I still didn’t know what I wanted to do. 2018 was a rough year mentally and emotionally. I knew I didn’t want to be a restaurant or sous chef at the time. I didn’t have the catering know-how that I do now, so I felt that I wasted those years of going to culinary school.
I started getting a few bookings. The first one was for a church. I started applying everything that I learned, and I thought, “I can do this.”
How was that first experience?
It was just horrible! First off, I didn’t have enough food! I didn’t have linen, décor, or chafing dishes, and it was just me! I didn’t have aluminum pans. I’m coming in with bowls and Tupperware dishes from my house. I didn’t even have napkins, silverware, or beverage cups. Thank God, one of the church’s mothers was a caterer, and she had some things in her car. She pulled me to the side and said, “baby, go on to my car and get some chafing dishes.” I didn’t know what a chafing dish was.
I received constructive feedback. It was one of those things in the back of your mind that you knew you messed up and what you should’ve done, but you needed to hear it. I was thankful they didn’t ask for a refund. The person who booked me said, “this is what we’re going to do; I’m going to connect you with Nina, and she is going to help you with your next event.” Nina taught me so much about the business side of catering. We did an event together, and I got rave reviews on my food. She told me, “Now, chef, your food is banging, but we got to get everything else to where your food is.” She paid me and told me to take half the money to buy chafing dishes and linen. Everything just started aligning.
What do you like most about being a chef, and what do you dislike?
I love what I create. I love the presentation and artistry behind what I do. But the actual cooking part and going to the store are not my favorite things to do. I utilize my team now. Those things that I hate doing, I can delegate that.
What celebrity chefs do you admire?
It would be Bobby Flay, Melba Wilson, and Tabitha Brown. Although Tabitha is vegan, I love that she is unique, in her own lane, and she is dominating it. That is what I aspire to be. I want my work to be my art. I’m not the type of guy who sees someone on Tik Tok making a dish and want to duplicate that.
What are some cooking pet peeves of yours?
I don’t like chipped dishes, dull knives, or rusty pans. I don’t like cooking with vegetable oil. I hate out-of-date and expired seasonings. I will buy seasonings over and over again to ensure I have that freshness in my food.
What are some tips you can give to newbie chefs?
The number one tip is to believe in yourself. Get one or two good, sound mentors. If I had a mentor early on, I would be in a much different place than I am now. I do appreciate my journey, and I wouldn’t take anything away. As a chef and caterer, I would’ve been on a better playing field.
Don’t be a know-it-all. What you know, you still don’t know. Through my journey, I’m continuing to learn. I’m still figuring this culinary game out.
How do you educate potential customers who have never booked a chef/caterer on the budget aspect of it and still sell an experience?
I offer an elevated experience from the background to the actual day of the event. I am all things you need in a caterer. Some caterers are not full-service. A lot of caterers and chefs often get frantic clients who don’t know what to do or how the process works when booking. I offer the experience as if I was the client. How would I want someone to explain things to me?
I ask the potential customer what they have available to spend. For example, if the customer says I have a budget of $1,000 for 100 people; I explain, “to have an event for 100 people, divided by $1,000 is $10 per person. If you went to Ruth Chris, your $10 wouldn’t get you much. Let’s go a little deeper; if you went to Piccadilly, you could get something for $10 per person, but what would the experience look like? You have to factor in elegant décor, linen, and utensils to present to your guests. Providing food is just one aspect of being a caterer or chef. It’s the experience that makes the event special.
As a chef, you also work a full-time job and own Relative Financial Group.
Relative Financial Group is my baby. Our culture did not learn about budgeting or balancing a checkbook when I was growing up. I want to educate our culture on the importance of financial literacy. Relative Financial Group offers Tax Preparation, Credit Repair, Financial Literacy, and Budgeting.
You’re currently going through therapy, which has always been a stigma in the black community. Can you share your experience?
Therapy has been a lifesaver! I was given the okay to grieve my mother and the responsibility of taking care of my father. Therapy opened the door for me to grieve properly. It has allowed me to be conscious and clear on my personal and professional decisions. I wished someone would have told me before that it is okay to talk to someone. I had a very traumatic experience when I was a child, and no one knew. We were taught what went on in our house, stayed in the house, and that’s hurtful. If I just had the opportunity to talk about it and not feel the shame or guilt that would be attached to it, I could have released it. I haven’t been medically diagnosed, but I believe my weight gain is because I didn’t talk about it.
I carried trauma and hurt stemming back from 1999. I still cry about this, but when I graduated valedictorian of Word of Faith Christian Academy high school in 1999, I received a full scholarship to Capitol Law University in Columbus, Ohio. They offered me a $900 weekly stipend. Food, room, and board expenses were covered. Back then, things like that for black people were unheard of. I received the letter and ran to my mom to share the news. My mom cried but not happy tears. She didn’t want me to leave and needed help with the kids. At this moment, I’m thinking; those are not my kids. I’m 17 years old with five nieces and nephews. I had given my time. It was hurtful. I was mad and bitter at my mom. She made the choice for me. I was able to process all that through therapy. In 2003 when my father fell, and I had to quit school, I had one semester left. Therapy helped me to get past those things.
Initially, it was hard opening up. I was paying for therapy visits and still didn’t want to talk about it because I had internalized so much stuff. I have been going for two years, and it has become a way of life for me now. It’s necessary, and I love it!
You really got it out of the trenches. What advice can you give to other entrepreneurs?
While you’re on your journey, don’t stop. Take a break, breathe in; take a nap if you need to, but don’t stop. The rainbow is just around the corner.
Over the last 20 years, I have stopped 4 or 5 times. I wished for someone encouraging me to keep going and the strength not to stop. Speak positively and affirmatively. I am a boss, the number 1 chef; I have the number 1 financial advisor. I speak those things not out of arrogance but because I am who He says I am. God told me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
What’s next for you?
Increasing and elevating my brand. I am focusing on writing a cookbook with my background story and recipes.
I desire to teach, but I am a real-life, hands-on teacher. The goal would be to have the student shadow me and learn how to price the food cost and what it takes to have a team. It would be hands-on learning. I would love to create a Culinary Institution that focuses on real-life applications with real accountability. I want to bring back the “honor in the kitchen.”
