Sisters Maya and Kala Johnstone at FoodChasers Kitchen, their restaurant at 7852 Montgomery Ave., Elkins Park.For fun sometimes, Kala and Maya Johnstone watch the Food Network. When someone comes on and the announcer says, “She was a teacher for 20 years and then she opened a restaurant—”“You can’t just jump into a restaurant,” Kala Johnstone said.
Maya and Kala Johnstone had been considering the restaurant life for about 14 years. Kala said she saw an Oprah Winfrey episode about creating“I taped it to my bedroom wall,” Kala said. “It’s never fallen off. But schoolteachers can’t just open up a restaurant. And we just went on, watching the Food Network.”
“She was like, ‘OK, let’s all sleep on it,’” Maya said. “We should retire, but where are we going to get money from?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. We’ll figure it out. I just can’t do it anymore.’”On April 16, 2021, they got the keys to the restaurant, which had been Park Plates. On July 2, they officially retired from teaching.
Brent Johnstone, now 45, who was an Owls running back and now leads a nonprofit called FathersLead365, helps his sisters when he can. Lance, 48, a 6-foot-5for the Oakland Raiders and the Minnesota Vikings , is at the restaurant every day, helping customers and doing deliveries. He was credited with 42 sacks in the NFL. He’ll sack up more orders than that on a weekday.“When people come in, they always say, ‘How are you doing?’ We always say, ‘Living a dream,’” said Kala.