California-born Cally Johnson is currently the executive chef at Lorena Southern Twist, Lori Burson's Midtown sister restaurant to Stella Modern Italian. She came back to Oklahoma after a long hiatus in California to help Burson with her Southern concept. This necessitated Johnson digging into a genre of food she knew a little about, because growing up in Bakersfield, California means you are exposed to Okie cookie from when our great and great great grandparent fled the Dust Bowl for the green valleys of California's agriculture belt. In this episode, Johnson gives us an overview of her surprisingly fascinating and diverse backstory, including her time as a Christian music sensation, although she'd probably quibble about "sensation." She came to cheffing later in life, and quickly established herself as a creative wizard of sorts, and along the way she and Chef Kathryn Mathis started Big Truck Tacos. Her CJ's green chile pork taco is still the only gringo taco to haunt my dreams.
