To become a chef was the obvious choice for Maître Rôtisseur Cajsa Johansson. Cajsa spent her summer holidays with her grandparents who loved to cook. Everything happened in the kitchen she discovered so she was hanging about there all the time taking it all in.

Her paternal grandparents ran a farm and Cajsa became perhaps the country's youngest farmer. She sowed, harrowed and ploughed. It was “so exciting” when, as a five year old, she got her own vegetable garden and could watch her peas and carrots grow.

The first couple of years as a Chef she was “seasonal” spending her summers on the west coast and winters in the mountains. At the American ski resorts in Colorado, she alternated between her Chef’s hat and ski boots. It was there she also met a couple planning on sailing in the Tasman Sea, a new adventure was the result with Cajsa as Chef onboard.

Cajsa is passionate about the combination of food and people, to follow the dishes from kitchen to guests, to be able to look at their smiling faces makes her happy. “It's nice to serve”, she says.

Her entrepreneurial drive has led her through her professional life with great dining experiences. After seven years as a “seasonal” Cajsa returned to her childhood city of Uppsala where she has stayed ever since. She has competed, won prizes and participated as a trainee when the National Team of Chefs competed in the Culinary Olympics. She was honoured by being chosen to carry the Swedish flag dressed in Swedish folk costume at the award ceremony. “This whetted my appetite”, she confirmed.

She ran a staff restaurant with catering initially as a sideline, but this grew and when suitable premises appeared she decided to focus on catering. Cajsa offers her guests whatever they wish. Buffets, dinner menus and themed meals are alternated and besides food, complete solutions make it easy for customers. Her well-trained Chefs and service staff share Cajsa’s easy-going nature but all the while are efficient and knowledgeable.

Her brigade is mixed. Young and old, as many women as men. “The fact that many stay for a long time gives good energy and great drive”, she says. Something always happens but it differs from day to day, which the staff appreciate.

Cajsa can offer her customers two of the most impressive event locations in Uppsala: the Castle and the conservatory in the Botanical Garden. She shares the conservatory with exotic plants from the garden. Banquets take place from May through September. She then has to make room for lemon trees and palms since they need to spend winter months inside. The Vasa Hall in Uppsala Castle is as grand as a castle hall can be and that’s where Cajsa runs a café.

She enjoys greeting both colleagues and customers in Uppsala. Additionally, her network has given her assignments at embassies, State visits and at the Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm. However, even if it seems impossible Cajsa still has free time when she likes to visit restaurants to eat “other people’s food”.

Adapted from a longer text prepared in Swedish by Conseiller Gastronomique Catarina Offe and translated into English by Margareta Henry, Chargée de Missions Honoraire.

Cajsa’s
Fyrisborgsgatan 4
754 50 Uppsala

Tel: +46 (0)18-130 190
Web: www.cajsas-kok.se