THE CHEF
THE CHEF
Chef Evan Johnson
The Man behind Food Coma Kitchen
“…whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done with love is well done.“
- Vincent Van Gogh
The Roots
2002
Roots are grounding, provisional. Aspects of a living plant could not be its full self without the depth of it roots.
Being born into a mixed family spread my roots deep to different aspects of living. One part of my roots lead to Puerto Rico, where the savory, the spicy, and the sweet come together. The historical flourishing’s of Puerto Rican/Caribbean cuisine made way into my familial line in America. My Abuela, Hilda, coming over from Puerto Rico to grow a family in the Bronx with little means was always able to make a meal that would hit the spot. Her livelihood and culinary style of simplicity with flavorful flair influences my culinary process today.
The other roots digs deep into Black History. The heart of soul food was in my great grandmother, Alma’s, home. The annual family dinners in a home tightly packed with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and more eating 30 pounds worth of homecooked soul food and knocking out on the couch was tradition. The largest part of the dinner wasn’t the food, however. With all the generational love and influences that come out when we cook, we did it not just to eat, but to express love, to come together
The Beautiful Merline
Grandma & Pop Pop
The Fam
The Beautiful Alma Mitchell
The Beautiful Hilda
King Edward "Red" Mitchell
My Main Ladies
Fam Cruise
The Artistry
2008-2015
Growing up, I wanted to be an artist. I was always inspired and impressed by artists’ freedom of expression and mind. My biggest inspiration is Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh was able to show his state of emotion with use of color, expressing his perspective of the world and everything in it. With the post-impressionistic genre of art Van Gogh was in, many artists of the time painted with a sense of intense emotion and wanting its portrayal, rather than realism and the exact copy of world view. Along with post-impressionism, a genre of art that remains my favorite is Surrealism. Our different states of consciousness and dreams seem so real to us that it affects us to a level that is unreachable through different means. Surrealism exposes what we wish, what we hope, and even what we run away from.
Art makes us feel.
The Experiential Understanding
2016-Today
Now sure I had some artistic ability, but in retrospect, it really wasn’t my thing. However, a different type of artistry was. Growing up, I always helped my Mom, Grandma (Dad), and Abuela (Mom) cook. It was a different type of experience being able to watch them move smoothly and strategically throughout the kitchen. In those special moments, I realized I had a passion for what I had been watching my entire life. Onward, my dream was to become a chef, and through Food Coma Kitchen, I am able to make that dream a reality.
From the start of High School, I started taking bigger steps to gain a stronger culinary knowledge by taking 3 culinary classes from freshman to junior year. Outside of school, I worked at two restaurants; one as a pizza chef and another as a line cook. These classes and positions only strengthened my love for culinary. I gained so much knowledge learning, watching, and experiencing the quickness of working in a kitchen. Entering college, my culinary knowledge now enhances to a greater degree.
Bringing that classroom learning, in-kitchen experience, artist inspiration, Puerto Rican flair, and Black generational love, I hope to make you feel good, putting you in a comforting state of mind through my meals; a Food Coma.
