Heirloom Chef

Photographs by Kyle Wolff

Cincinnati, Ohio Jackie Djordjevic’s personality is just as lively and flavorful as her recipes. She grew up in Northern Kentucky, enjoying home-cooked meals whipped up by her mother. “My mom cooked everything from scratch, so I was always watching her cook,” she says. Becoming a chef wasn’t always her dream, but after a former coworker told her about the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State, she knew it was the path for her. “That’s when I got the bug,” she says.

Djordjevic graduated from culinary school and worked as a sous chef at the Hilton Netherland Plaza for five years. During this time, she started experiencing severe flare-ups of the rheumatoid arthritis that she was diagnosed with as a teen. Seeking a more balanced culinary career, she moved to Whole Foods, where she oversaw the prepared food department. At the same time, she focused on finding a more holistic and nutritional way to manage her pain.

Djordjevic worked with her doctors on an elimination diet to banish inflammation-causing foods from her plate. Today, she has been free from arthritis symptoms for more than eight years. Her experience inspired her to start her own meal prep business, the Heirloom Chef.

The Heirloom Chef operates out of Findlay Kitchen in Over-the-Rhine. Djordjevic creates meals without wheat, dairy, and processed sugars and is the only official local partner of Whole30, the eating program that avoids grains, sugar, dairy, legumes, alcohol, and a handful of other items in favor of “real food.” Customers can order weekly meals or à la carte items from a seasonal menu on the Heirloom Chef website, or order prepared foods through ETC Produce & Provisions.

Djordjevic is excited to watch her business grow and, after 14 years in the industry, enjoys being her own boss. “It’s nice to know I’m the final call,” she says. “I can make a decision, be confident in the decision, and carry it through.”

Heirloom Chef
1719 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine
859.445.5192