We were lucky to catch up with Derrick Lewis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Derrick, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

The legacy that I’m building with Well Kept Catering is that on great customer service, quality ingredients, delicious meals, & a family like vibe in each event. I hope to be remembered for how much heart, love, effort, and sweat equity that I put into every dish that I place in front of clients. I want them to remember how my meal made them feel when they tried it for the first time and then wonder why they hadn’t had it sooner. The legacy that I would like attached to my brand is that I gave you more than you expected and that I left you feeling as though you were being very well kept.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Derrick Lewis and I was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, AL. I’ve always been in hospitality since a child, but I didn’t really realize it at the time. It started with family reunions, church services, and weekend family gatherings. My mother, who is a chef as well, would always be the one who’d cook for majority of the family on these occasions, so I had to help out quite a bit. It was those moments that inspired me to want to try my own hand at cooking. As I grew older, my confidence grew in the kitchen at home as well, and I went from scrambling eggs to baking fish; from grilled cheeses to BBQ grilling with my dad. My dad was also another person that I’d see cater for different grocery stores and functions when I was growing up. People would rave about how great my parents cooking was and that prompted me to learn how to do what they did.
So, after a few career changes, I enrolled into culinary school in Birmingham, AL where I graduated with a 4.0 GPA and President & Deans List honors. Before graduating I was interviewed by Walt Disney World to work in one of their kitchens in Kissimmee, FL at Artist Point in Wilderness Lodge. In my time at Disney, I worked at Artist Point, Sanaa in Animal Kingdom, and Story book dining with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I later left and began working at a fine dining restaurant in Winter park, FL called Luma on Park Ave. and it was there where I believe I was “forged by fire” to grow even more in the kitchen.
It was also by working at Luma that I got the opportunity to volunteer and work with children at the Edible Education Experience kitchen in Orlando, FL. Where we held camps and taught seed to table, team building exercises, and competitions with after school and summer camp children. From the volunteer work sparked the idea of me being placed on a preferred caterer list with the kitchen house and that is how Well Kept Catering grew its roots. During Covid I’d became very popular with the Haitian community in Orlando and so it was those events that kept me afloat during those uncertain times.
After Luma I continue my journey in the kitchen to a seafood restaurant in Baldwin Park, FL. call The Osprey and this kitchen was also pivotal to me because it helped me to find my true rhythm in the kitchen. It was also by working there that I was able to prepare a dish for Kris Moon, the President & C.O.O of the James Beard Foundation. A very monumental moment in my life because it felt like I’d gotten the chance to show the foundation that I put my heart into my dishes and I’d like the chance to just be seen. That dish changed my life and from that moment I wanted to know and do more with the James Beard Foundation.
I applied to their 2022-23 Legacy Cohort mentorship program and was accepted along with a few others to be mentored for eight months by various mentors across the country. I was able to be inspired by a lot of chefs, writers, policy makers, and critics within that timeframe and we still converse on food issues and ideas. Networking with anyone in the industry has been a goal because I want to maintain a students posture and feel like I can be teachable and learn from those who have already been where I’m try to go in life.
Well Kept Catering is a southern cuisine catering company that is based on dishes that I had with my family, ingredients that are local but also ones personally sourced by me throughout the world as I travel. Offering executive catering for business, brunches, birthday dinners, anniversary, beach dates, etc. Our goal is to leave you feeling as though you were kept well in our hands.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I actually went to the Tuscaloosa Fire Academy school to become a firefighter and graduated because the goal was to work as a firefighter and then on my off days have a food truck. However, the culinary school that I wanted to go to wouldn’t let you miss the amount of days that it took to work as a firefighter, so I had to make a choice. I ended up traveling two hours a day for school and started working in a kitchen called Side by Side in Tuscaloosa, AL. I’m glad that I made the decision to be a chef.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My business’ reputation is not so different from what I’d hope that my personal reputation is and that’s being reliable, fun, friendly, memorable, and welcomed by many. To attain that and more is tied to some key factors that I believe in and that is Great Customer Service, Quality Product, Memorable Experience, Consistency, & Delicious Food. Sticking to that and making sure that I check those boxes with every client helps me sleep at night and also guarantees me & them that each meal is held in high regard. I also try to give more than expected to them which rounds out the feeling of being well kept by my staff & I. It is for those reasons that I believe that my reputation has been doin well in the market. Treating people well makes them feel good & they tell friends, coworkers, and loved ones about their experience, that’s the foundation that I’ve built and I think its just good business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thewellkeptchef.com
• Instagram: @thewellkeptchef
• Facebook: Well Kept Catering
• Other: TikTok: @thewellkeptchef

Image Credits

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