Chef Jernard Wells describes food as an art form, a picture a cook paints with his plating. He suggests layering, or stacking, Surf & Turf for a visual treat. He begins with his green beans/butternut squash, adds a 6-ounce filet mignon and tops with the lobster tail.The Chef of Love’s Valentine’s Day Menu
Cocktail: Lemon SurpriseAppetizer: Skinny Dippin’ Shrimp CocktailEntree: Surf & TurfSide: Haricots verts (green beans) tossed in almond sauceDessert: Fruit parfait
Since placing second on “Food Network Star” last summer, Chef Jernard Wells has created his own line of cookware and knives through the Gunter Wilhelm company. “Uncivilized by Chef Jernard” includes waterless, nonstick cookware and two knife collections. One knife line, Pro Lightning, is for commercial chefs; the other, Pro Thunder, is for home chefs.Food Network success opens doors to new ventures
Since placing second on Season 12 of “Food Network Star” last summer, Chef Jernard Wells has begun five new business ventures in addition to his job as a chef and restaurant consultant in Atlanta.* Culinary Fight Club: Wells bought the Southeast region franchise of Culinary Fight Club, which covers six states.Culinary Fight Club is similar to television cooking competitions except audiences watch it live. Chefs are given a theme, such as bacon or their best “street food,” then have 45 seconds to run to the pantry and pull whatever ingredients they want to cook a dish that best highlights the theme. They have one hour to cook and plate their dish. Winners of Culinary Fight Club get a golden ticket to compete in the World Food Championship.Wells serves as host of these food fights. He says he wants to schedule Culinary Fight Club matches in Chattanooga and Knoxville later this year.“It gives me the opportunity to highlight a lot of upcoming chefs. I didn’t have anyone to open doors for me. I want to make it easier for these young chefs because cooking is a competitive career,” he says.Tickets (which average $30 to $40) are sold to attend Culinary Food Fights, and audience members have the chance to taste the chefs’ dishes and vote on their favorites. Proceeds benefit Fight2Feed, a nonprofit that feeds the homeless.Wells appreciates that the Culinary Food Fight’s involvement in Fight2Feed is not just lip service, but he and other participants actually put on their Fight Club T-shirts, go into cities to cook and give away free meals.For a schedule of Culinary Fight Club battles, or for chefs interested in competing, check the website at www.culinaryfightclub.com.* Celebrity Chef Bookings: On Feb. 13, Wells will join Gina Neely and Jerome Brown in Miami as celebrity chefs at An Afternoon with a Southern Soiree to benefit the Sickle Cell Research Fund.“Chef Jerome and I have become brand ambassadors for Sickle Cell Disease fund and we travel for them doing live shows,” Wells says.He also served as a guest judge for an episode of “Chopped Jr.” on Food Network that aired on Feb. 7.* His Own Cookware: Wells has created his own line of cookware and knives called Uncivilized by Chef Jernard through the Gunter Wilhelm company.“It’s waterless cookware. You can cook anything in it and not worry about it sticking,” he says.“The knives are phenomenal. There is one line of knives for commercial chefs called Pro Lightning and the other is for home chefs, Pro Thunder.”* Brand Ambassador for Voss Water: Voss is a naturally pure, artesian water bottled in southern Norway. Wells says he and his family already drank Voss Water before he was asked to become the company’s first celebrity chef.* Rhema Restaurant Group: Wells is part owner in this business that has launched new restaurants in Miami and Chicago.
When Valentine’s Day rolls around, Chef Jernard Wells is in his element.
After all, he is known as The Chef of Love. And he literally wrote the book on romantic meals: “88 Ways to her Heart: Cooking for Lovers from the Kitchen to the Bedroom” ($18.99 paperback on Amazon.com).
“The quickest way to anyone’s heart is through cooking. When you first meet somebody, what’s the first thing they ask: ‘Can I take you out?’ Food is always first base,” says the former Chattanooga and Ringgold, Ga., restaurateur turned Food Network celebrity.