Transcript
What inspires you from WFSU Public Media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. My name is Leon Brunson and I'm a chef in Tallahassee. I think my passion really stems from restaurants first, but it really got into food once I realized the impact that it had on culture and just the history of food and how it plays into every person's life. I never met a stranger because we can connect on food. Right now I'm a personal chef in Tallahassee. I'm doing that as well as opening a restaurant as well as starting a few independent projects, tandem of the restaurant, as well as working with second harvest to bring a little more food literacy and work with these boxes that are being presented to people and showing them creative ways to do things, working with TMAs and teaching cooking classes and getting the groundwork of the cooking classes started for the restaurant as well. I'm inspired by the restaurant industry not being able to provide a healthy lifestyle for their employees. So what keeps me going and what pushes me is I want to be able to provide that for people to say, hey, I can be a chef without having to spend my entire life, my entire Christmas is my entire holidays, you know? There is a way to get into this career field without it being detrimental to your personal life. I'm competitive and I'm naturally driven. So like there's not a lot of things that externally motivate me other than I'm trying to be great. And if I'm chasing awards, the biggest thing that would show me validation would be a James Beard Award. Because before Sylvia Gold from Cool Beans got nominated for it, it was an untouchable thing. Like they weren't gonna ever look in Tallahassee. But now that I know that they recognize wherever you're gonna be at, that's what keeps me inspired, that's what keeps that standard high, that's what makes me recognize. They're people looking at this city Tallahassee for culinary talent, especially now. And I want a chance to be able to raise the bar or maintain a high standard to something that they would look at and be like, this guy is doing something cool. My name is Leon Brunson and thank you Tallahassee. You're listening to voices that inspire.