Celebrity Chef Tells His Story at Diaspora Conference

The 10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference (June 16 to 19), being held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James, has so far seen an interesting mix of participants, many with diverse interests but all showing a willingness to learn.

One participant that has captured the attention of the attendees is the Jamaican and United States-based Celebrity Chef, Wenford Patrick Simpson.

Mr. Simpson, in what was billed as a ‘Riverside Chat’ and aptly called ‘Succeeding at Business in the Diaspora’, gave a riveting account of how he started out in business, his share of challenges, including being homeless, to now being a first-call culinary operator in New York and in dialogue with potential clients as huge and as reputable as the JFK International Airport in New York.

“It wasn’t always like this,” he would recount to JIS News in an interview that followed.

“I was at the hotel earlier watching the chefs behind their stations working and doing their thing. I gave each of them a fist bump, knowing that I used to be in their shoes… doing what they are now doing… except, of course, that I was homeless and sleeping on the hotel’s property,” Mr. Simpson said.

Popularly known as Chef Patrick, Mr. Simpson, who hails from Clarendon, is now a true Jamaican success story, living the American dream and with myriad accolades under his belt.

He is the Corporate Executive Chef for BB King Blues Club & Grill in New York, where he oversees all the venues of the restaurant.

He is also the executive chef at Highline Ballroom, Howard Theatre in Washington DC.

Mr. Simpson has his own celebrity chef show called, Cook Up with Chef Patrick, on the Tempo Networks, where he cooks with various celebrities.

Over the years, he has amassed a wide array of coveted awards for his culinary skills, including ‘Best in Taste’, at the Spring Taste NYC in 2015, and ‘Best in Taste’ at the Taste of Times Square in 2016.

In June 2020, Mr. Simpson opened his first restaurant, which is now one of the hottest restaurants in New York, which seats more than 300.

He also opened the first Jamaican restaurant to be affiliated with a casino in the United States, inside Caesar’s Palace in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which can accommodate 450 guests.

Mr. Simpson said he is humbled by all his accomplishments, especially when he reflects on his humble beginnings, coming from a single-parent family with a mother who worked two jobs to put food on the table. It was this setting that sparked his passion for cooking.

“My mother was mostly at work, so I used to have to cook for my little sister, so she would have something to eat when she gets home. One day I was cooking cabbage for her, and I mistakenly put the curry in the cabbage. We didn’t have anything else to eat, so I gave it to her. She and her friends laughed at me so bad, I was left in tears,” he recalled.

“Right after that, I said to her, ‘I’m going to show you that I can cook. I’m going to be a chef’,” Mr. Simpson shared about his experience at 11 years old.

Soon after, the family relocated to Ocho Rios, St Ann, where Mr. Simpson attended Marcus Garvey Technical High School.

There, he pursued his passion for cooking through the food and nutrition course and landed an internship with Club Caribbean Hotel in St Ann.

His supervisors were so impressed by his workmanship, that they hired him straight out of high school.

He worked there for a year, then moved on to one of the Sandals hotels in St. Ann.

While customers rave about his cooking, anyone who knows the chef is captivated by his personality.

True to his humble Jamaican roots, he has never forgotten the opportunities he received as a fledgling chef with his Caribbean employer, and extends the same compassionate, receptive consideration to co-workers, which turns into a strong motivation for his team.

His warm personality and meals have brought many celebrities to sample his cooking, including Magic Johnson, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Campbell, Hillary Clinton, Avril Lavigne, and Jamie Foxx.

Mr. Simpson told JIS News that he has his eyes firmly set on setting up shop in his homeland, Jamaica, with plans for a Kingston location in 2025 and one in Montego Bay later.