Gelman Jensen—For the Love of Food

His girlfriend, sports, music and food are the main loves of Gelman Jensen's life. He admits that the order of the list changes according to the circumstances, but food is always in one of the top two positions. Jensen won two varsity letters and a state-wide championship in wrestling while he was in high school. He also alternated between playing lead guitar and electric bass in the school's popular jazz band. Gelman, a first generation American whose parents migrated from Sweden, says his food tastes were first influenced more by his Philadelphia birthplace than by his parents' Scandinavian homeland. His first cooking experiences came when he invited his wrestling teammates to his house for lunch and prepared Philly-style cheese steaks for them. The gang was so impressed that routinely meeting for lunch at Gel's house became a team ritual.

In love with a real kitchen

Gelman Jensen never thought of becoming a professional chef or attending culinary school until after his high school job brought him in contact with several professional restaurant kitchens. He used to deliver plastic tubs of pizza cheese to local establishments.

"At that time, all the places in the area that sold pizza would use the same brand of pizza cheese," Jensen recalls. "Some of them were just little, storefront pizza joints with a single pizza oven wedged in, but some of them were really nice restaurants. I just fell in love with the shiny chrome kitchens in those places. Everything was so neat and everybody had a job to do."

Here comes the chef

Even though the restaurant kitchen attracted him, Gelman expected to earn his livelihood through music. After high school graduation, he and several other musicians from the school jazz band formed their own professional group. However, while playing at a wedding, he saw something that made him change his career focus.

"The wedding was at a fancy restaurant. We had been allowed to store our instrument cases and to dress in a small supply room near the kitchen. I was there tuning my guitar when I saw the head chef enter the kitchen. Everybody stopped what they were doing and stood and greeted him. I mean it was as if a great general or a president had walked in. I thought, 'man, I want to be in his shoes.'"

Another musical cook

With close to a dozen chef schools in the region, Jensen had a tough decision. He needed to select a culinary school where he would fit in and find other students with interests like his. Once he made up his mind to change careers, he took his time in making his choice. Jensen visited four of the most reputable chef schools in the state and was shown around. He was on a tour of the fourth one when he heard music. He asked the admissions counselor who was guiding him through the school to help him find the source of the sound. The counselor obliged and they found a young woman student in a chef's apron sitting and practicing on a cello in one of the empty classrooms. Gelman enrolled that afternoon. By the end of that semester, Gelman and the cellist were playing duets in an apartment they shared in South Philadelphia.

A family that cooks together

Gelman Jensen and Brenda Sweetwood found that they had a lot more than music in common. Their duets in the kitchen were soon the talk of the school. Although students must prepare their own dishes for the chef school's final exams, the two students were allowed to work as a team on a number of other food preparations. Their presentations were always highly praised.

Brenda graduated from the culinary school six months before Gelman and found a job in a leading restaurant on Philadelphia's famous main line. She introduced Gelman, her boyfriend, cooking cohort and musical partner, to the restaurant owner a few months after she started working there. The owner had hired a number of his best cooks from the graduating class of the culinary school that both Brenda and Gelman had attended and was very open to the idea of the two of them working there together if a position became available.

Soon after Gelman graduated, one of the restaurant's line chefs left. Brenda was promoted to the vacancy and Gelman was given Brenda's old job. Two years have passed since then. The couple still cooks together at the restaurant, they still play music together on their days off, and they're now making plans for a wedding.

About the Author

Martin A. David is a writer and translator, specializing in Danish, French and Spanish literary works. He has written numerous feature articles for publications including the Los Angeles Times. He has also published a novel, and a non-fiction book in the area of dance. Martin earned his B.A. in Liberal Arts from Brooklyn College in his native New York. He currently chairs the Santa Clara Cultural Advisory Commission in Santa Clara, California.

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