You're letting someone into your home. Here's who we are.
JTI is a personal chef service built on one standard: exceptional food, made by people you can trust. It came from a genuine love of feeding families and years of experience learning exactly what that means.
Dairy Free
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Gluten Free
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Whole 30
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Low Fodmap
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AIP
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Mediterranean
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Dairy Free - Gluten Free - Whole 30 - Low Fodmap - AIP - Mediterranean -
A Note from Ali
When JTI started, it was just me, a cooler full of groceries, and a lot of ambition. I cooked for every family myself, learned how their people ate, and figured out what it really means to be trusted in someone's home.
Now JTI has grown into a team of chefs who are, honestly, exceptional in their own right. I just built the systems that make sure you feel that things are easy and dinner is on the table without having to think about it. Here's where that standard came from.
1985
A family of cooks
I come from a long line of great cooks. Classic American and Norwegian fare. Cream and butter were basically their love language. This is where my love of food started, and where I learned that a good meal is really just a way of taking care of people.
1996
2006
A 3-year stint as a vegetarian
I tried a 3-year stint in vegetarianism after college, but was lured back by fried chicken. No regrets.
Left a decade in sales for the culinary world
After about a decade in sales and marketing, I walked into my first culinary class and never looked back. It was love at first class.
2008
A B&B and a caterer
My first culinary jobs. I was exactly where I was supposed to be. .
2009
My culinary journey was put on hold
For three amazing reasons. Let's call them Larry, Curly, & Moe.
2015
Kitchen manager at a gourmet food shop
When my youngest was about one, I made my way back into the food world as a prep chef and, later, kitchen manager, at a gourmet food shop in Atlanta. Working with family meal plans here honed my cooking skills in ways culinary school never could. Real families, real preferences, real chaos. This is also where I knew for certain: families were my people.
2017
Catering liaison at Whole Foods Market
When I moved to North Carolina, I joined Whole Foods Market as a catering liaison. It deepened everything I knew about food quality, intentional eating, and what people actually want when they care about what goes on their table. It also gave me the final push to build something of my own.
2018
Food allergies changed everything
My son was diagnosed with food allergies, and I discovered sensitivities of my own. We overhauled how our family ate, switched to a whole-foods approach, and felt dramatically different. It wasn't a detour. It reshaped how I cook, who I cook for, and what JTI looks like today.
Today
A team. A standard. A company worth trusting.
What started as one chef with a cooler full of groceries is now a team of remarkable chefs serving families across Raleigh and Charleston. My own food journey shaped everything about how JTI operates, from the way we handle dietary complexity to the standard every chef is held to.
JTI has grown into something bigger than my story now. It belongs to the families we serve, the chefs who show up every week, and the belief that we can always do this a little better. That's what keeps me going.
BECAUSE WHO NEEDS COMPLICATED?
Simplify Mealtime
We know how hard it can be just to make it to soccer practice on time. You’re trying to take quick bites in between meetings or while you’re chauffering the kids around.
Make the bites count with a personal chef service that guarantees you get a balanced meal when you need it most.
Check that off your to-do list! (and we know it’s a looong list)
Some things are worth saying twice.
We love our people, but seriously...3 meals a day? Every. Single. Day. When it's all just too much. Just Table It.