PRISON CHEF NOW WANTS COLLEGE DEGREE
Café Bellagio executive chef Jeff Henderson has gone from his early days of being a drug-dealing prisoner to the Oprah Winfrey show—and now he plans to get a bachelor’s degree in communication.
He starts filming the “Chef Jeff Project” for the Food Network this fall, and then the movie of his remarkable life story gets underway with actor Will Smith. But he was so emotionally moved when he donned cap and gown to give a commencement speech at Lane College, Jeff vowed to go back to school and get his degree!
He told me “My story has been featured in numerous publications from USA Today to People and your LUXE LIFE, including Oprah’s show (which airs again on July 11)—but this was one of the most powerful moments of my life. Wearing a college robe with a cap touched me in a way that I have never been touched before. My next goal is to open my own restaurant, where people can experience my posh urban cuisine. I would also like to earn a bachelor’s degree in communications. I look forward to working toward that new goal. I feel as though I have been truly blessed and will do everything in my power to give back to my community, in whatever means possible.”
Luxe Life proudly reprints this story from Lane:
Chef Jeffery Henderson served the 2007 Lane College graduating class a heavy helping of hope, wisdom and inspiration.
“Listen here, young people: By no means am I a preacher, but I’ve got to take you to church today,” said Henderson, popularly known as “Chef Jeff.” The 42-year-old former Las Vegas Chef of the Year shared the story of how he went from drug dealing on the streets of South Central Los Angeles to carving out culinary success and writing a bestselling memoir.
“Thirty years ago, I was just a little boy named ‘Jeff Hard Head,’” he told the nearly 3,500 gathered at Oman Arena for Lane’s commencement ceremony. He said he earned the nickname, “hard head,” because he didn’t like to listen to anybody. However, he would eventually end up in a place where he would have to listen to God and to others.
“God blessed me in a mysterious way. Believe it or not, prison saved my life. Ten years of my life would be spent in prison. It was there I became motivated and began to realize my true potential,” Henderson said.
He told the students that they all had the potential to break through their inner prisons.
“Many times, our prisons are not federal or state,” he said referring to minds that are sometimes locked with self-doubt, fear and negative thinking.
“Always keep ‘yet’ in your vocabulary. ‘Yet’ means it is still to come,” Henderson said. “Any of you who didn’t believe in the power of potential before today, look at me.” After being released from prison in 1996, Henderson got a job as a restaurant dishwasher. He was a quick study and worked his way up to the top of the cooking profession under the mentorship of Robert Gadsby.
“I always dreamed of having a big kitchen,” Henderson said. Film rights for Henderson’s memoir, “Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, From Cocaine to Foie Gras” were purchased by the Will Smith team that made his hit movie “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Henderson encouraged the 131 proud graduates to dream big, pray hard and give back to their communities.
“Give back; don’t just get yours,” said Henderson, who is not yet a college graduate himself. However, he told the graduates that he will be one day.
“Each and every one of you motivates me,” he said. At the conclusion of his speech, Henderson received a standing ovation.
President McClure said he couldn’t think of a better speaker to personify Lane’s popular slogan, The Power of Potential.
“He (Henderson) identifies with the power of potential,” McClure said. “In the past, we’ve gone for scholarship. We’ve gone for high politicians (for commencement speakers). Once in a while we need somebody to come who is real.”