Meet the Artisan Behind Your Unique Culinary Experiences

Cortney J. Johnson, aka Chef Cojo, is a certified chef proudly born and raised in New York-- Brooklyn and Long Island, respectively. As of 2015, she relocated to Georgia where she now calls the Atlanta-metro area her “home away from home”. Chef Cojo has been a passionate home cook as early as her adolescent years, and at one time believed she would pursue a professional career in the culinary arts. Ultimately, she decided to pursue teaching as a full-time career since education was also a professional interest. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2002 and later earned a Master of Science in Post Secondary Education at Troy University in 2006.

Currently, Cortney is a full-time Immigration Advisor at a private university based in New York City. Her role includes providing support and advising international students who study in the U.S. on visas. Although education has played an integral role in her professional life, Chef Cojo’s passion and love for cooking never left. Ultimately, she decided to become a student once again and enrolled in Rouxbe Culinary School (online) where she earned two course certificates—Seafood Literacy in September 2020 and Forks Over Knives, a plant-based course, in November 2020. Later, Chef Cojo pursued a Professional Cook Certification course, earning her Culinary Arts Certificate in March 2021.

With encouragement and support from family and friends, Chef Cojo decided to utilize her culinary talents, skill, and knowledge outside of being a home cook and started her business, CojoCooks, LLC in February 2022.

Her culinary POV and what she enjoys cooking most is family favorites and elevated classics and refined comfort meals. She draws inspiration from her Caribbean and Latina heritage and also her favorite cuisines-- specifically Mediterranean flavors and ingredients from Greece.

Chef Cojo hopes she is able to bring her love for food, flavors, and cooking to others—because the greatest expression of love is through food.