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Johnny Vee
Author
Johnny Vee

John Vollertsen (aka Chef Johnny Vee) grew up on dishes that relied on sauces made from Campbell’s soup. Lucky for us, he dedicated himself to learning the culinary arts in places like New York City, Sydney, Australia, and Santa Fe. Since 1993, he has led the Las Cosas Cooking School, and his first cookbook, Cooking with Johnny Vee, recently came out in its second edition. He still remembers his first bite of a red chile enchilada at a New Mexico truck stop. Eschewing the cooling power of a sour cream garnish, he dug in. “My sinuses immediately cleared, and I tasted such complex flavors and textures that the bland food of my upstate New York youth was forever forgotten. It is that sense of discovery, surprise, wonder, and anticipation I hope to impart in all my teaching and writing.”

Warm Up to Morning Magic

I’M NOT A FAN of oatmeal unless it is sweetened with brown sugar, moistened with heavy cream, and topped with toasted pecans. But the year-old Albuquerque-based 5oat5: The Savory Oat Company is…

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Living the Clean-Eating Dream

ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF MY CAREER has been to cook for longtime Santa Fe resident and actress Shirley MacLaine. We met years ago when she had come to Las Cosas Kitchen Shoppe, where I teach cooking…

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Tea Time at St. James Tearoom

AS THE WORLD CONTINUES TO EMERGE from its Covid-19 slumber, it’s nice to know that not all facets of life aim to come roaring back. For nearly a quarter of a century, Albuquerque’s St. James Tearoom…

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Kakawa Makes the Food of the Gods

THE MAYA AND AZTECS OF MESOAMERICA celebrated chocolate, enjoying its bitter qualities brewed with almonds, chile, and herbs in powerful elixirs. (Traces have been detected in pottery mugs found in…

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Planty Sweet Cooks Up Vegan Treats

ABOUT EIGHT YEARS AGO, a national food company asked me to critique a line of plant-based meat substitutes they were developing, to see if a chef thought restaurants and home cooks might like them. I…

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