I am Chef Jonathan Gardner, you can call me Chef JG or Chef. 

I am the youngest of three children raised by my loving parents until my father’s untimely passing in 2016.

I have been IN LOVE with food all my life but realized the connection when I was 8 years old. My love for food stems from family. We have a large family on both sides and my mother and her younger sister would call/text each other asking "Do you want to cook?". They would call all our family and friends and the next thing you know there is a party on a random Thursday night, lol.

I've been working in the Industry professionally with Chef Eric Wells of Skye LaRa’s Culinary Services.  Chef Wells is one of the foremost chefs in Cleveland; his approach is "Good Food & Excellent Service".  This means as long as we provide excellent service and the food is "Good" the customer will keep coming back. I follow this strategy very closely because I've seen first-hand that it works well.

I am an alumnus of the Culinary Arts program at Jane Addams Business Careers Center. I am also an alumnus of The Culinary Institute of America. My experiences at these two places were the best experiences of my life. 

I graduated from CIA on Valentine's Day 2020 and was lucky enough to finish my education before the Covid 19 pandemic shut everything down. The shutdown changed my plans a bit as it forced me to move back home to Cleveland. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work for an exceptional Italian restaurant, Flour. Currently, I am the CEO/Chef of my own catering company Crazy Comforts where we feature a new twist on comfort foods.

Months after returning home, my beloved mentor and Culinary Arts instructor, Chef Szalkowski, called me to join his culinary team and my teaching adventure began. I bring a unique perspective to the culinary arts program because I was literally in the students' shoes just a few years ago.