Hello ladies and gentlemen, my name is Chef Johnny Vollertsen but my friends call me Johnny Vee! Welcome to my website where I specialize in recipes, cooking instruction, how-to food guides.
I publish my content to the web through my blog, videos, and in person at my on-location classes. My cooking classes are hosted throughout New Mexico in Santa Fe, Taos, Las Cruces and various other parts of the Southwest region. Please visit my calendar to see when I’ll be hosting a cooking class in your area next.
About Chef
John began his career in New York, working in a variety of popular and famous NYC restaurants, including Soho’s “Greenstreet”, Tribeca’s “Odeon” and Larry Forgione’s milestone “An American Place,” In 1985, John was sought out by a company in Sydney to open an American-Style Restaurant and Cocktail Bar, a project that lead to a chain of 6 Southwest flavored restaurants in Australia and NZ called the “Arizona Bar and Grill”. After completing his final Arizona location, in Wellington, New Zealand, John moved to Santa Fe.
In Santa Fe, John launched a successful cooking school in the local favorite, Las Cosas Cooking Shop. A year-around roster of eclectic cooking topics includes guest chef classes and topics ranging from the obvious New Mexican Cookery to the exotic foods of East Africa. John also teaches and appears as a guest chef at the beautiful Vista Clara Spa and Resort in Galisteo, New Mexico. He conducts private cooking classes for high-profile local residents including Shirley Maclaine and has hosted classes featuring actress Marsha Mason and singer Chris Calloway, daughter of Cab Calloway.
John’s charismatic personality unleashed a side-career as featured writer for La Cocinita, a statewide monthly magazine with a readership of 30,000. John’s specialty is interviewing local chefs and celebrities to uncover their background and philosophies on how the food world has impacted their lives. Always the “man about town”, he also covers the gossip and food scene in his monthly “Santa Fe Scoop” column.
John was a primary consultant on the creation and opening of Taos School of Cooking.
Baked With Love (NEW ARTICLE)
“Whenever I bake, I add extra spoonfuls of love to all my recipes. Love added to all things good makes them just a little bit better.”
— Randi Levin, The Muffin Lady
Cooking At High Altitudes – High Altitude CHEAT SHEET
I made a simple olive-oil cake recently, and, when I took it out of the oven, there was a huge crack across half of it. I had forgotten to raise the oven temperature on the sea-level recipe. I topped the fractured cake with a big dollop of creme friche, raspberries and powdered sugar and my guests were no less the wiser.
Chefs In The Raw 2005 Calendar – Featuring Chef Johnny Vee “Mr. August”
“The Chefs of Santa Fe – Cooking in the Raw” Calendar – After a smashing debut in Taos last year, the fabulously popular Cooking in the Raw calendar with Chefs at their best and barest is back this year and taking Santa Fe by storm. Chef Johnny Vee was a primary consultant on the creation and opening of Taos School of Cooking. Read more, support this non-profit and buy the “Chef’s In The Raw” calendar.