Our Culinary Job Training students go through an intensive 14-week program of self-empowerment, in-the-kitchen training, tutorials from award-winning and world-renowned visiting chefs, and more. We ask our students to “trust the process” through it all. One particular graduate of Class 165, Joseph King, did just that. He arrived to class early every day, found a job in a kitchen that also serves his community, and he’s setting his sights on furthering his culinary journey through more classes.
But when Joseph first visited DC Central Kitchen, he didn’t know what he was signing up for.
“Actually, I did not know it was a culinary job training program,” Joseph said. “I was in rehab for my alcohol overuse and a friend of mine told me about DC Central Kitchen. I thought I was going in for a job interview.”
No, it wasn’t a job interview, but he decided to give it a try after taking a tour. “When they explained everything to me, what it was going to be like. I said ‘OK, this is the place I need to be.’ I looked at it as a further extension of my recovery and that’s how it went.”
Before coming to DCCK, Joseph attended four quarters at the Art Institute of Washington, and worked in Veterans of Foreign Wars Halls kitchens and catering kitchens. But what he learned outside of the CJT kitchen turned out to be the most useful lessons. “You know, they’re saying life skills before knife skills. They definitely helped me with my life skills. I don’t think I would be as proficient, as efficient, if I had not gone through that program. Dealing with different personalities, different attitudes, made me a better cook.”
Joseph found DC Central Kitchen as a place of comfort. “I would get there at least an hour early and I would go into the little meditation booths, and I would meditate. I would just sit there and I would think about things and where I wanted to go and try to plan my day, my week, my life out. It helped me so much.” Joseph continues to utilize what he learned in the meditation classes in the CJT program.
Joseph graduated in July 2024, with the highest GPA in his class and perfect attendance, and immediately joined the culinary team at Victory House. “DC Central Kitchen introduces you to opportunities that you may not come across on your own. They help build your resume. I got the call from Victory Housing right after we had done our resumes.”
Working as the Lead Line Cook at the assisted living community Victory House’s Malta House location in Hyattsville, Joseph’s work is not that dissimilar to what he leaned at DC Central Kitchen. He’s using what he picked up at the Kitchen on a daily basis to give back to his community. And he’s looking forward, too.
Joseph flew to Switzerland in February to visit the Culinary Arts Academy Switzerland (Le Bouveret). “I started making plans to do that while I was at DC Central Kitchen,” he told us. “It’s a beautiful campus. It’s a beautiful program. I’m hoping to go back there and train and see where that takes me.”
When he’s not working in a professional kitchen or plotting his next moves in the culinary world, Joseph is advocating for the program on social media. “It is a further extension of my recovery and I need it. You hear people say the program was a godsend. It was. It was what I needed.”
Joseph is on his way to two years of sobriety, marking a year into restarting culinary career and letting everyone know what the CJT program did for him. “It helped me so much. I just feel like if it helped me, it can help someone else.”