Our Story
We met in 1999 in the anthropology program at the University of Central Florida — two curious people fascinated by how humans live, gather, and (it turns out) eat — and we married in 2001. Along the way, Josh became a professional chef and Marlena worked front-of-house, and we dreamed of opening a restaurant together. But when it came down to it, we chose family over giving our lives to the restaurant business — and we've never looked back. We became teachers instead.
Food is also the story of where we each came from. Marlena grew up on processed food — and sometimes not enough of it — and it took years of study, all the way through a master's thesis in nutritional anthropology, to learn what truly healthy food looks like, tastes like, and how to cook it. Josh grew up with more food on the table and more home cooking, but nothing that ever showed him how enticing food could really be. Together — through the restaurant years, the nutrition research, and thousands of family dinners — we finally found our groove: Marlena hunts down healthy, creative recipes worth loving, and Josh, once he left cooking as a profession, took over our kitchen with his chef's hands. Our kids are the (enthusiastic) taste-testing department.
We've both been seeking for as long as we can remember. For Marlena it began in childhood — Christian school and church after her parents' divorce — and opened wide in college through yoga, philosophy, and the study of every spiritual tradition and text, a love she later brought to teaching world history and religions. Josh's seeking rose out of a painful home life of his own: he went looking for alternative life experiences and cultures — other ways a life could feel. When we found each other, we felt like home to one another. And food experiences became one of our favorite ways to feel something together.
The seeking became something we did together, too — through the world's spiritual teachings, deep study of the Bible and A Course in Miracles, and many years of struggling to find our people along the way. That's why this church family, where Jesus' teachings are held in harmony with wisdom from across the world's traditions, feels like home in a way we'd never quite found before. Underneath it all, one question: what does it mean to be a healthy, connected human being?
That question shaped our work, too. Marlena certified as a yoga teacher and nutrition coach — walking alongside people reversing chronic health conditions, type 2 diabetics especially — and went on to real estate investing education, success-mindset coaching, and AI consulting; Josh carried his chef's craft out of professional kitchens and into our own. Today we work from home side by side, homeschooling our two youngest (9 and 7 — our oldest is 25 and engaged), with more time than ever to explore our flavor offerings. Feeding people well is where all of it lands on the table.
We're still anthropologists at heart. Wherever a culture or corner of the world has a flavor its people treasure — the tastiest, healthiest, most beloved version of a dish — we want to find it, learn it, and bring it home to share with people who might never have tasted it otherwise. It's a taste adventure we love cultivating for ourselves, our family, and our communities.
We cook with healthy, whole ingredients — mostly lower-carbohydrate, higher-protein, with plenty of healthy fats — but when a dish we love calls for good, honest carbohydrates, we happily indulge. Now we love sharing our favorite finds with anyone who's willing to indulge with us.
Why "J Love's Special Sauces"?
Because of one of the little sparks from when we first met. Marlena knew a certain little-known band only because she'd been handed a freebie from their first album at an event; Josh knew them only because a friend from their hometown had shared their music with him. So when the two of us met — nowhere near that hometown — and each tried to introduce the other to this obscure band we loved, we were both surprised and delighted to find someone who already knew. It was one of those uncommon things we had in common that helped draw us together.
Years later that band grew and now tours everywhere — they even come through New Smyrna Beach almost every year, and we still enjoy the music. Our name is a playful nod to that shared spark: Josh is our "J," and the love — well, that's the secret ingredient.
P.S. — curious what that spark sounds like? This one's a favorite of ours →
And because music and flavor belong together, every sauce we create gets its own song — drawn from the wide soundtrack of our kitchen: front-porch blues, roots and reggae-rock, soulful folk, Christian pop and hip-hop, conscious feel-good anthems, and plenty beyond. For us it's less about genre and more about the words — songs that seed something positive, loving, and spiritually growth-directed. Each flavor's song takes whatever shape it calls for. One day soon you'll be able to taste the flavor and press play.
What's Simmering
We're dreaming up small-batch jarred sauces — fresh and fermented — plus seasonal creations built on local produce, sauce-and-meat/seafood pairing recipes, and tastings at the farmer's market. Right now we're sharing dishes with our church family and gathering honest ratings to decide what makes the cut. Your stars are literally shaping our menu.
We serve God and others through really tasty food experiences, real estate, education, AI consulting, and missional giving.
The Dishes
Tried one of our dishes? Tap it and leave a star rating — your honest feedback helps us decide what to share next (and what might end up at a farmer's market table someday!).