With a dash of determination, a pinch of hard work and some finely honed cooking skills, Jeff Henderson left behind a life of crime and jail time to become one of the top celebrity chefs in the world.
During an appearance in Malibu last week, Henderson said he always strived for success but never imagined reaching this level. He just grew up working hard.
“I knew I would be successful with whatever I figured out I was going to do in life because I’m just wired that way,” the 50-year-old said. “A successful candy seller, a successful newspaper seller, an entrepreneur, and — I hate to say it — as a drug dealer.”
Henderson, who specializes in Southern cuisine and is popularly known as Chef Jeff, shared his personal story of being a young drug dealer in San Diego and turning it all around to become an award-winning chef, best-selling author and reality television star during a presentation on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at the Malibu Civic Theater as a part of the Malibu Library’s 2014 Speaker Series.
As a boy, Henderson dreamed of “owning a house on the hill with a white picket fence.” He gained his strong work ethic from his grandfather, who owned a laundry business. He also saw how his grandfather would steal change from the washing machines, and while growing up in south central Los Angeles, he noticed the money local drug dealers were making.
“That was the beginning of my criminal lifestyle,” he said. “Poverty creates that hustler lifestyle.”
A few years later he began selling drugs. At age 19 he earned his first $1 million selling narcotics. But the law caught up to him when he was 23, and he was arrested on drug charges and sent to federal prison.
While in prison, Henderson made the best of his circumstances by learning cooking basics in an industrial kitchen and emulating “the Wall Street” guys he was locked up with. They taught him everything from how to sit properly to walking and talking with confidence, all while honing his cooking passion.
“Other inmates praised me for my food, and it felt good to get a pat on the back and hear ‘Your meatloaf was good, Jeff,’” he said. “You know growing up and not embracing education, not an athlete or ever played sports, I was never told that much. That reassurance and praise built my self-esteem.”
Before he went to jail, the most Henderson cooked was fried bologna sandwiches. After his release in 1997, Henderson began a journey that landed him in many esteemed kitchens, including working with famed Chef Robert Gadsby at his LA restaurant.
Henderson said he began to copy Gadsby’s successful look. He began smiling, shaved his head, got similar glasses, a wristwatch and began wearing a $150 chef jacket.
“How do you emulate success? You look at and study the people who are where you want to be,” said Henderson. “I was the best dressed dishwasher in LA from 1996 up to this day.”
He worked in kitchens in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Marina Del Rey. In 2001, he became the first African-American Chef de Cuisine at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. He later became an executive chef at Café Bellagio at Las Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel.
But the journey hasn’t been easy.
“You can’t let not getting praise deter you,” he said. “The mission was to learn everything I could about high-end cooking. Many doors were closed in my face, I lost my job at the Montage [Hotel], I was discriminated against, less pay. I ran through the whole gamut, but prison and the streets made me strong for the corporate world, which is tough.”
Now, he expertly organizes dazzling and delicious California French and posh urban-style plates and has penned three books, including the 2007 New York Times Bestseller, “Cooked: My Journey From the Streets to the Stove.”
Corey Henderson, who came from Westchester to hear Henderson in Malibu last week, said reading “Cooked” changed his life.
“It’s inspirational for me, because I had my own personal trials, maybe not as severe as [Henderson’s], but to know no matter what with perseverance you can bounce back,” he said.
Karol Sarkisya, a management fellow with the Los Angeles Library System, said Henderson’s compelling story was a perfect addition to the speaker series.
“We wanted to give the people of Malibu a great presentation and he definitely delivered,” she said.
Henderson’s newest reality show, “Flip My Food,” premiered in syndication on Sept. 8.
