Chef finds new purpose in work with Meals on Wheels Atlanta
Former Four Seasons chef Robert Gerstenecker has been feeding people since he was a child, and now he is using his culinary expertise to give back and feed seniors through Meals on Wheels Atlanta.
From the organization’s Purposeful Gourmet product line to its catering venue, 1705West, Gerstenecker is determined to help seniors be healthy and happy.
Gerstenecker, 55, grew up in a food-centric family that lived on a farm in Canada, where he and his three older brothers contributed to meals. They processed their own meats and vegetables, foraged in the woods, and learned about food preparation as they worked alongside their mother in the kitchen.
“These days, you’d call it a homestead,” Gerstenecker said. “We raised pork and beef, had milk cows, eggs, chickens, and my mom made butter from milk. I realized later that growing up that way influenced my decision to become a chef.”
He tried an externship with the police department during 11th grade. While making rounds in the community, he shared with a sergeant that he really loved cooking. The sergeant encouraged young Gerstenecker to pursue it professionally.
He attended the hotel and culinary management program at George Brown College for two years and worked part-time jobs, washing dishes, working on the line in kitchens and carving beef at Sunday buffets.
Gerstenecker earned the Dean’s Award as a student, won a scholarship from Four Seasons and immediately began working with the worldwide luxury hotel chain after graduation.
He carved smoked salmon at buffets, prepared food in the garde manger (French for “cold kitchen”), baked in the pastry shops, cooked for room service and served as executive sous chef and executive chef for the hotel’s fine-dining restaurants. He transferred from Canada to Hong Kong, then to New York, Atlanta and Palm Beach, Florida, before settling back in Atlanta in 2004.
Gerstenecker worked as executive chef at Four Seasons Atlanta on 14th Street until his retirement in 2016.
“Hotels are very greedy, and my daughter Heidi was just 4 years old,” he said. “I don’t regret a minute of my career, but I didn’t want to miss another minute of her growing up. It’s the best thing I ever did.”
He became a chef instructor at Kennesaw State University and helped develop the culinary program for apprenticeships.
Then, in 2018, he received a call that would give his professional life a new purpose.
A former co-worker from Four Seasons was on the marketing board with Meals on Wheels Atlanta and told him they were looking for social enterprise opportunities to make money and use the proceeds to feed seniors.
“Their timing was interesting,” Gerstenecker said. His mom had passed away and his dad, who still lives in Canada, was diagnosed with heart issues and Alzheimer’s disease. Luckily, one of Gerstenecker’s brothers still lives near their father and is a great help, but the situation opened his eyes to seniors who don’t have family.
“I had a certain perception about people who need help with food and those perceptions were shot out of the water,” he said. “The people MOWA helps have had wonderful lives and worked hard, but they may not have family support or money available because of illness or tragedy, and they can’t go back to work. Cooking is something I can do that will help them and that I enjoy. It was an easy decision to jump on board.”
The first project he consulted on was Purposeful Gourmet Foods, a product line that benefits MOWA. He took recipes he used at the Four Seasons to create Purposeful Pecans, available in such flavors as sweet with heat, sugar and spice, and peaches and more. The snacks are sold online at purposefulgourmetfoods.org, with a big push from October through December for holiday gift boxes.
Gerstenecker, who no longer is teaching at KSU, has had evolving titles at MOWA, and currently is the culinary director and new product development officer.
Charlene Crusoe-Ingram, CEO of Meals on Wheels Atlanta, said the organization is “incredibly fortunate” to have Gerstenecker. “His culinary expertise, creativity and generous spirit are invaluable assets to our mission and community.”
Gerstenecker is passionate about growing 1705West, MOWA’s catering venue.
“It’s a nicely outfitted venue for corporate events and training,” said the chef, who cooks for many of those events. “All the money raised from those events goes back into feeding strangers. It’s amazing to see people donating, and that’s what we need more of. It’s roughly $7 for a meal. Our next mission is to encourage people to donate just $20 a month.”
Gerstenecker added that 800 people are on the waitlist to receive food from MOWA. The number is at an all-time high because of financial strain and limited support.
“For example, when one of our seniors returned home from six months in the hospital, she was alone, in a wheelchair, and had nothing to eat,” Crusoe-Ingram said. “With family out of state and nursing support delayed for months, she turned to MOWA for help.”
The organization provided medically tailored meals and regular wellness checks for the woman and also provided pet food for her two dogs.
“We serve around 500 seniors in Atlanta, probably 250 in DeKalb,” Gerstenecker said. “The need is ever-growing, as is my passion to help.”
