Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Jonique.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m a 36-year-old single mom who was born, raised, and still resides in New Orleans. My start came from being a sous chef for my mom who cooked very often. There was always a passion for food very young and my willingness to try different things had expanded my eating palate.
At the age of 24, while working for Whole Foods, I decided to attend a trade college for culinary arts, which bored me. I had my own idea of what I wanted to do career-wise. I wanted to cook the outlandish food that was in my mind. After graduating, I started to work with private chefs, for catering companies, and as a line chef to get knowledge from different focuses.
One day I quit all my jobs and started to sell plates out of my car via social media. Everyone wanted to know who the tiny woman was that sold this crazy, bold and colorful food was. After a year, I joined forces with my son’s dad, who needed a chef for his cafe. We did really well, like REALLY WELL. The entire city knew about my famous stuffed shrimp burger. Then I began to cook for celebrities who found me on Instagram. People noticed I was feeding the hottest artists who visited New Orleans. Things were great, and I got pregnant the day after our son was born, someone burned our restaurant down. We were back at square one. After that, I became a private chef and began to sell plates again. The food network reached out to me and asked me to compete on Chopped. That experience changed my life because tv was something I tried to stay away from. Even though I got chopped 2nd, I still won. Two years later I got a call to co host a show called gatekeepers with THRILLIST. The year after, I was asked to be the host because of the audience’s response towards me and my bubbly personality. As my career moved forward, I became more comfy with myself as a chef again. Now I am an influencer for Anova Culinary, work with major companies as a brand ambassador and have leveled up with a successful business as a private chef. My food is still eye-catching and bold but with a healthier approach. People love to see someone they can relate to give them knowledge and show them the results of it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been struggles throughout with starting something I love but having to find my own way to come across exactly how I wanted to. Once I stood firm on what I represented and found my niche things got smoother.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
What set me apart, in the beginning, was my look. I am very petite with a lot of tattoos and natural hair. The things I cooked were not what most people from my culture were used to. My plating DEFINITELY stood out (I’m an artist at heart all across the board). Between my creativity with unusual ingredients… my plating, looks and wordplay were and still is what I’m known for.
What’s next?
My biggest change is scaling back on cooking for people to teach them to cook for themselves. Time with my family is more important as I approach club 40 lol. Health is my wave from here on out. My main focus is a healthy eating palate. Showing people you can grow your own food and HEALTHY FOOD CAN BE AMAZING. IT’S NOT BORING AT ALL. I will focus on merchandise as well. Not so much on the edible food side of things but still associated with food in other ways.
Contact Info:
- Email: Contact@chefAshleyJonique.com
- Website: www.chefashleyjonique.com
- Instagram: LetDatGirlCook
- Facebook: Chef Ashley Jonique
