A student with a 15-year history of incarceration set a goal of getting a job in restaurant management during a cooking class conducted by Culinary Concepts AB at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.
Within two years of graduating Antwon Brinson’s training program, the student was a manager at a restaurant, where she hired another former inmate.
“I’ve lived in a lot of places, and I’ve never found a community like this before,” says Brinson. “Here in Charlottesville, I feel like people are more susceptible to lifting each other up and supporting each other, especially in the food industry.”
When Brinson launched Culinary Concepts AB in 2018, he knocked on hundreds of doors to let the community know about a training program designed to create an education pipeline between culinary entrepreneurs and understaffed kitchens. Just seven people applied.
But when every one of those applicants completed the course, passed certifications, and accepted restaurant jobs, Culinary Concepts AB caught the eye of Charlottesville food establishments looking for solutions to high workforce turnover in a city densely populated by restaurants.
“There’s not really an investment happening on the employers’ part, because the expectation is that this person is just here for a paycheck,” says Brinson. “And there’s not really an investment on the employee’s part, because they don’t see the value in the organization. Our goal is to build that bridge.”
Culinary Concepts AB now works with high schools, vocational schools, colleges, and jails to administer training programs, cooking classes, and team-building exercises to interested students at all skill levels. Students are trained in culinary arts and hospitality work, with an emphasis on general life skills.
Scholarships provided in partnership with Charlottesville’s Office of Economic Development and Albemarle County’s Office of Economics allow Brinson and his team to work with entrepreneurs interested in upward mobility in the culinary world, regardless of their current economic status.
Brinson, a father of three and a former high-end resort chef, is looking to expand to a second Virginia location for these programs. Classes mostly take place at Barracks Road, and Brinson receives between 60 and 70 applications each cycle for a kitchen with a capacity of 12.
“Everyone is in need of talent, and we found a recipe for success,” he says. “We found something that works, that not only adds value to the individual that goes to the program, but adds value to the employers.”
The most intense Culinary Concepts AB program is the GO Cook bootcamp, a five-week, five-day-a-week, four-hours-a-day program that trains and certifies workers in cooking and food safety. At the end of the boot camp, students get hands-on experience by shadowing chefs at Charlottesville restaurants. Over 75 local businesses have signed up to partner with the program.
Brinson says about 80 percent of Culinary Concepts AB training program graduates parlay their new life skills in communication, problem-solving, and time management into a food industry job, often with one of the program partners they helped during their training.
“Every single person on the team wants to do something that is making a difference in this world,” says Brinson. “I think that foundationally, because we’re aligned, it doesn’t feel like work… We love seeing people grow, and hearing success stories. It’s fuel on the fire. It makes you want to go harder.”