Food Network Chopped Chef and Florham Park Resident Combines Fashion, Fitness, and Healthy Cuisine in One Great Career

If all goes well, it will open in the fall of 2022 in Westfield's North end train station.

“My first own restaurant!” says personal chef and fitness expert, Jesa Henneberry, of her soon to be opened Maize eatery in Union County.

Her excitement is expected. Henneberry played a huge part in opening Jajaja in New York City, and has also served as a consultant for Arora Hospitality. “Opening restaurants and consulting is really what I love to do,” she says. “Offering a fresh creative perspective to existing brands or start ups is fun for me. I just opened another new plant based concept in Northern New Jersey, have developed menus for a start up meal delivery service, and have been collaborating with Urban Space Food halls in New York City and Le Pan Quotidien for their seasonal innovations.” 

And now, a restaurant of her own.

Henneberry was also a winner on the Food Network show, “Chopped.” “Winning ‘Chopped’ was a huge personal win for me,” she says. “Working in the private sector primarily (at the time) didn't give you much recognition or accolades. The win really helped me with believing in myself and my work. It gave me huge exposure, and opened the doors for my first restaurant consulting gig at Jajaja where I developed the menu. This was the start of a new chapter for me, and goal for a career pivot.”

That career has taken her into the kitchens of high-net worth families, Academy Award winners, players in the National Football League, CEOs, and more.

Henneberry grew up in Muskego, Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, for her undergrad studies in Textile and Apparel Design. She moved to Brooklyn to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2000. Henneberry then worked in the fashion industry as a designer for 10 years, and even had her own clothing line called Jesa & Jonnie, which was sold in stores like Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters, and was featured in Teen and Seventeen magazines. She lived in Brooklyn until 2018 when she moved to Florham Park where her husband lived.

While growing up, Hennebery was very active in a number of sports, including dance, gymnastics, and softball. That athleticism would play into her future career, as would her fashion expertise. “While I was working in fashion, I'd also become a bit of a NYC foodie; socializing and eating out all the time, being on the scene, were a part of the industry. I kind of got obsessed with food at that time, trying all the best new restaurants, and cooking at home had become a hobby that I really enjoyed as well. It was another creative outlet for me.” 

At the same time, Henneberry started going to the gym and working out, to offset the lifestyle-related pounds she’d gained. It became part of her daily routine. “I started competing in bodybuilding competitions,” she says, “where the dietary restrictions ended up fueling this creativity in me, to explore cooking from a whole new angle, to make delicious and healthy one-in-the-same. I looked at food and flavors the same way I looked at designing clothing, cherry picking from different cultural influences, textures, colors, cooking techniques, and flavors to stay inspired and on course for my nutritional goals.” 

All of this encouraged her to go to culinary school in 2010  “I was intentional in choosing the Natural Gourmet Institute as the training for me. My approach was to change the way people think about healthy eating. My career path in culinary has been unconventional and I've loved every step of it.”

In addition to her interest in athletics playing a role in her career, so has her background in fashion design. “Fashion design and menu (and restaurant) design use the same brain and creative process for me. There are trends present in food that, as a chef, you need to stay on top of, whether it is health/wellness (diets- like vegan/keto/reducetarian or ingredients with specific properties- nootropics, anti inflammatory), flavor or food specific trends (hot sauce, fermented foods, fried chicken), plating styles. Plating is a whole level of artistry that is much like sketching. My fashion design background is HUGELY influential on my style as a chef.”

For more information abut Jesa Henneberry, visit www.jesahenneberry.com.