Chef Todd Johnson, Executive Chef

Todd Johnson has deep culinary roots in Collier and Lee counties, Florida, which began over 35 years ago. His love of the culinary arts developed into a passion when he attended Culinary School at Johnson & Wales University in 1992. He got into restaurant ownership when he opened Bistro 41 in the Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers, Florida as Executive Chef/Partner in 1997. Thanks to his passion, drive and to his business partners, Jeff Gately and Michael Hernandez, Bistro 41 quickly became a huge success, becoming best new restaurant in Lee County and becoming Zagat guides’ top 100 best new restaurants in the nation.

Todd has tremendous drive to create new dishes, work with the freshest ingredients and has led numerous chefs under him, many of them moving on to run their own restaurants and kitchens. In the last 18 years, he has opened six restaurants as Executive Chef/Partner, which include Bistro 41 (Fort Myers), Aqua Grill in Waterside Shops (Naples), Mia’s in Hyde Park (Tampa), Rumrunners, The Joint and RunAgrounds (Cape Harbour, Cape Coral).

Todd is involved with numerous local charities in Lee and Collier counties including Southwest Florida Wine & Food Fest, which is in the top 5 food and wine fundraisers in the nation. Todd founded "The Celebrity Chef’s Dinner" charity at Rumrunners, which raised over a million dollars for the Golisano Children’s Hospital/Barbara’s Friends. He has been in numerous newspaper write-ups, local magazines, local television, led VIP dinners in Sonoma, California for Mauritson Wines and has had the privilege of working with many celebrity chefs.