We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chef Kendric . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chef below.

Chef , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. Other times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed.

In the past I’ve had several issues when I first started my business. Mainly with not being prepared and being understaffed at my events. The first event was a restaurant pop-up that I had in Charleston and it was a disaster from beginning to end. It wasn’t enough food, staffing, and knowledge to have that kind of event but it taught me so many valuable lessons!!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I got into the food industry 6 years ago. I have always had a thing for tasty food and have never been intimidated by the kitchen. One day, I just started posting pictures on social media of the food I cooked and attention started to grow. I never knew it would have turned into a career. At the time I was 34 years old and knowing that I had no formal education in this field I knew to be successful I would have to put in some work. The work I mentioned was researching, studying the craft, and learning all I could about cheffing. At that time, I had a full-time job, wife, and kids who had their own activities so going to school was not even possible. In this case, self-teaching was my only option. However, I did have a previous education in business and marketing which helped tremendously. My marketing background helps with dish plating, strategically posting pics, and seeing what gets the better reaction. I then take those results and create dishes that are guaranteed to make your mouth water. Knowing what colors catch the eyes while potential clients are strolling your timeline is important also. After mastering plating, next it is the art of capturing the perfect picture; angles and clarity are important! Finally, taste which is the most important! Chefs must remember that every client does not like what you like! You must find that sweet spot in all your hors d’oeuvres, appetizers, entrée, and desserts. You are not going to please everyone, but if you are feeding a large party of let us say one hundred people at least 80%-90% of them should love your food. I was able to master that by testing entrees with restaurant pop-up events and monitoring the overall response and feedback. The road to success was not easy and I have made several mistakes on this journey. At the beginning, learning how to value my craft was the most difficult. When you are in the middle of a pandemic and challenging economy, food prices are soaring. I had to figure out a medium that would satisfy my customers and myself, so I created a formula that helped with quoting perfectly. As of today, I have begun to expand my brand with several cookbooks for sale on my website as well as seasonings, garlic butter, and good sauce line coming in 2023. Also my restaurant to be named at a later time will be opening in 2023!! I’m sooo excited!!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What helped build my reputation was word of mouth about how good my food is. Client to Client communication is one of the the best ways to grow a business. Its nothing better than a client bragging on your food in public!!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Best source of New Clientele has been social media. Being able to post videos and pics of your food grabs the attention of potential clients immediately.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ChefKendric.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefkendric
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChefKendric