Life & Work with Cornelius Jemision

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cornelius Jemision.  

Hi Cornelius, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Honestly, the love of eating is what started this. Senior year of high school, my mom encouraged me to sign up and learn a trade with Area Career Center’s Culinary & Pastry programs. Completely green to cooking, the sheer need to be good, creative, and competitive drove this new kid to the top of a class meant for returning students the year prior. After graduation, I got my first taste of Chicago and a bigger culinary world at the former Le Cordon Bleu for another year of education. I spent a lot of time working in high-volume catering establishments, a handful of Michelin-Starred kitchens, and traveling across Colorado on my college externship. 

Leading up to the pandemic I found myself becoming dissatisfied with the creativity I could have at work. I was the youngest Chef de Partie at the Chicago Bears Stadium Solider Field. I met and spent 4 years working with some truly amazing people who helped me become who I am today. I was fixated on fine food culture and my chefs knew that. When everything shut down, it felt like I was lost. I hadn’t had that kind of free time in almost 8 years. It was very hard to process. Edgar Ramon, co-founder of Fields Cannary, whom I had been emailing back and forth about staging, presented me with an opportunity to help Chef Edgar Coronado at a Chamba Life pop-up dinner. I was immediately drawn in and terrified for what a private event entailed. 

Time went on, the world opened back up, and my lingering curiosity had grown. Edgar reached out again and wanted me to be the chef for an experience. The event went off better than I would’ve ever imagined. It was the first time I had limitless freedom. The first time where I could present my formally flirted with ideas to people and the first time I made more in a day than from two weeks of intensive work hours. I’ve been at this entrepreneur thing for two years now. I cater private events and parties, cook for fundraisers in different communities, create content that help someone’s cooking or make them smile, and have been fortunate to find new mentors like Angelina Bastidas, Joe Sasto, and Zach Meloy. The only goal is to be at my best so I can give the best to my clients and loved ones. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been an absolute wild ride to say the least haha. I missed out on a lot of experiences in my teens and early 20s and still some to this day. Working in professional kitchens with the desire to get better, or really any demanding profession, becomes an addiction. Extreme hours for little compensation and the promise of receiving everything for giving your all to an establishment for their product is truly a part of any cook’s journey. 

As an entrepreneur, I came into being on my own kind of blindly. All I knew how to do was cook, entertain, and share my work online. So overnight, with no 9-10 check coming in, I needed to be become business savvy fast. Learning marketing, designing a functional website, more attractive content, and finding clientele were all challenges. In the very beginning, it was emotionally depressing if I only had a singular client or none in a month. I had some renown from being in NWI Times and feature film informercial about career and technical education, but no one knew who I was or why they should want to hire me. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am traveling private chef specializing in intimate catered parties for a variety of group sizes and events. A lot of my influence comes from Asian, Southern, and French food and food culture. I bring the restaurant to the comfort of your home where there’s no waiting list, no unplanned disturbances, and there’s no wall dividing the cook from the guests. People who have dined with me will never forget how I made them feel and the hospitality I provided. The experience of someone truly making you feel special and a part of a great evening is something I stress the importance of. If it wasn’t a big deal, people would still just go to a restaurant. 

What makes me the happiest is when my excitement to share with people becomes contagious. Clients tell me they’ve been thinking about their past experience with me after a long time and talking it up with their loved ones. When they go out to a nice restaurant and tell me a dish I made for them or a way I prepared a beautiful branzino for them was better than that professional establishments. If I cook sauce or vegetable they don’t like eating but the way I prepared it gave them a chance to enjoy that same sauce or vegetable. 

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Being born and raised in my parts of the Midwest, where food is not a serious subject. I was always surrounded by fast food and ate a lot of it growing up. My parents were workaholics themselves so naturally, that need to work and provide just became ingrained in me at a young age. I think living in Indiana is a double-edged sword. For every client or sometimes friend or family member who tells you your product will NOT sell there are another five people eager to support you. I’ve found more people saying there’s a desperate need for good food around than I have people telling me I’m overpriced. The ones that like what you do will tell everyone. Especially if there’s nothing like you already around. I guess you could say being in the right place at the right time has been powerful. 

Pricing:

• A more luxurious experience starts at $275pp for small groups.
• Brunch options start at $115pp
• For more casual and economical experiences start at $200pp
• I believe everyone can and should have great food so I will always work with clients to find a price that works for their budget and my expenses.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.corneliusrjemison.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cornyguyy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CorneliusJemison
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cornelius-jemison-6a0b10126/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwUrN4T6RihhgE1Z4A4LDzw
• Other: Corny.Co Catering on Google Business

Image Credits
David Austin
Chamba Life