Coast Guard veteran takes skills from galley to backyard cookouts with Florida-grown sauce

Meet the veteran behind ‘Chef G’ sauce

‘Chef G’ is a Coast Guard veteran with culinary flair. FOX 13’s Alyse Zwick reports.

YBOR CITY, Fla. - When Coast Guard veteran Gaston Meredith, or as everyone calls him, Chef G, fires up the grill, you know something delicious is about to happen. But in Ybor City, it’s his sauce that’s stealing the spotlight.

"So, everybody would say, ‘Hey, man, this sauce is really good. Is this just yours?’ My answer had to be no because it wasn't mine. So, I needed to create my own sauce," Chef G explained.

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So, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work- crafting his very own sauce recipe using Florida-grown ingredients and a lot of heart.

"We grow tomatoes, we grow citrus, limes, lemons, oranges, and we have berries," he said. "We also have a pepper called a Datil Pepper, which only grows in Florida - in the St. Augustine area."

The backstory:

Chef G’s passion for cooking started back in high school. Six months after graduating, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and cooking was his perfect assignment.

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"My brother was already in the Coast Guard ahead of me and I had never heard of the Coast Guard until he went in. I barely knew how to swim. So, I said okay, I'll give it a shot. I ended up taking the Coast Guard culinary course with their school out in California," he shared.

He spent six years in the Coast Guard learning lessons that still guide him today.

"One thing I learned the most about being in the military is never quitting, endurance, and patience. That’s how I really contribute to my life today and as well as a chef," he said.

Dig deeper:

These days, Chef G’s mission is to serve up smiles and succulent dishes through his catering company and his sauce. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and one hundred percent Florida.

Chef G’s sauces can be found in some local Publix stores.

From the Coast Guard galley to backyard cookouts, Chef G proves that with patience, passion, and a good sauce, that’s all one needs to make dreams delectable.