Full of Flavor with Chef Gason!
By Ava Simone Collier
Chef Gason Nelson is a New Orleans native whose love of cooking has literally become his ‘bread and butter.’ Chef Gason is the owner of Full of Flavor, a personalized chef catering service which can either come to your home and prepare gourmet meals for you and your guests or deliver them to you. In addition to preparing delicious meals for such notables as Kenny and Chante Lattimore and 50 cents, Chef Gason is the personal chef of NFL Super Bowl star, Reggie Bush. I talked with Chef Gason and here is what he shared with me.
T2T: Chef Gason, where does your love of cooking come from?
Chef: Cooking is my passion. I realized it’s my purpose in life. I was 18 years old and joined the military after my father got his military orders to go to Alaska. I didn’t want to go to Alaska. I went to the military recruiter’s office and said I needed a job. The first thing that popped up was a cook. I thought how hard could it be to cook? After I got in the military and began cooking, I realized it was a challenge to feed that many people at one time. But I also realized that there wasn’t anything else in life I wanted to do. I definitely fell in love with food.
T2T: Tell me about Full of Flavor and how it came about
Chef: It’s not a restaurant. It’s a personal chef service. I concentrate on the fine dining experience. For example, if you are having guests at your home and wanted to do something different, I would come in and sit with you to discuss the menu. Nothing is off limits and I can have foods flown in overnight for you. I would come to your home with a server and you worry about nothing. 
Everything is done from scratch, from the bread, the soup, the entrée and dessert. We serve the courses to you and your guests and try to give my clients an awesome experience. People always ask me how I do it all. It’s so easy to me because I love it. I feel as though I’m retired already because I don’t feel like this is a job.
T2T: How did you become the private chef for Reggie Bush?
Chef: I take care of him during the football season. After Hurricane Katrina, I’d lost all of my clients and didn’t know what to do. Then the New Orleans Saints drafted Reggie Bush and I was excited. I was living in Texas and one day I was in the gym and I get a phone call from my wife. I thought something was wrong at home. Instead she said Reggie Bush’s agent just called and said they wanted to meet me. At first I thought it was a joke. I returned the called and they wanted to meet me. I drove in for a demo dinner for them. There was a line of chefs waiting to cook for him. I just wanted to meet him. Working for him was the furthest thing from my mind. I came in, met him, we talked, I cooked for him and afterwards he hired me on the spot without even seeing another chef! I was still living in Houston. I packed up and came back to New Orleans and here I am today. I’ve been with him for four years now. I get up every day and get to play. I wake up and pinch myself…Is this for real? I get paid to go to someone’s house to cook. I’d do it for free!
To find out more about Chef Gason and Full of Flavor, visit www.chefgason.com
