David Robert Johnson (a.k.a. Chef Dr. Jones) was born in Iowa. His grandfather, a farmer, first introduced him to growing food, canning, and preserving, and the intimacy of eating locally. He received a BS in Geography & Environmental Management from the University of Iowa, specifically studying the interrelationships between the health of society, economy, and environment with special respect to food production systems.
He spent ten years cooking on historic tall-ships, seasonally and geographically sourcing food; and expanding his culinary repertoire via cooking with locals, exchanging recipes, and experimenting with whatever was in season. From French cooking in Montreal to fish fries in the Caribbean, Dr. Jones’s cooking is an intimate, eclectic, and joyous accumulation of tastes, cultures, and communities.
David spent three years in Africa, where he initiated a community development project employing and educating local Xhosa tribe metic graduates in food production, service, and management. He designed and built a tiki restaurant of local materials, opened a fish market, planted three large perma-culture gardens with French drains for black water, compost, and solar heated water systems.
When not aboard the schooner, Chef Jones can be found delighting palettes at his namesake deli.
