Joseph Brown Named VGCC Culinary Program Head

Vance-Granville Community College has named Chef Joseph A. Brown to head its Culinary Technology program.  After completing the Associate in Applied Science degree, graduates of Brown’s two-year program will be prepared for entry-level professional positions in restaurants, hotels, catering operations, health-care facilities, schools, and other institutions. 

Brown, who started his new position on August 1, said that he was ready for the challenge. “I’ve been looking forward to starting this new college-level program and being able to ‘run the ship’.”  The VGCC program will be based at the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford.  Brown looks forward to his students competing against the best graduates from “The Big Four”: the Culinary Institute of America; the Cordon Bleu chain of cooking schools; the Art Institute; and his alma mater, Johnson & Wales University, based in Providence, Rhode Island.  Among Brown’s longer-term goals for the program are participating in culinary competitions and building the VGCC program’s reputation within the food service industry. 

Brown, a native of New York, worked his way up through the food service industry – starting at age 15.  As a teenager, Brown did not originally set out on a culinary career.  But a high school guidance counselor noticed that he had spent much of his time working part-time in restaurants, and suggested that he pursue that profession.  Knowing that he enjoyed cooking but uncertain about his future, Brown headed off to Johnson & Wales.  During his first year, Brown worked hard through classes that might last six or eight hours, but, oddly, he realized that he was having fun.  That, he said, was when he knew he had found his professional calling. 

Because of his career path, Brown has had unique opportunities to encounter many celebrities.  Among those for whom he has cooked are entertainers Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, and Bill Murray; and professional wrestlers like Hulk Hogan.  A big fan of professional football, Brown received a big thrill when he catered for the New York Jets.  Once, NFL kicker Matt Barr happened to walk into a restaurant where Brown was working.  After Brown noticed Barr’s Super Bowl ring, Barr slid it off his finger and said, “Here, try it on.”  Brown calls that moment “a highlight of my life.”

After several years in restaurants, sixty-hour work weeks were taking their toll.  Brown, who had just moved back to New York, wanted a more flexible schedule that would allow more free time with family members.  An opening at a local technical school seemed perfect.  “I thought, ‘That’s easy, it’s just teaching!”  he recalled, laughing.  Soon, however, Brown learned that teaching actually was very challenging, especially dealing with a variety of different students, some of whom spoke little English.  Four of his students one year were deaf, and he spent the first half of that year without an interpreter for them.  One day, an administrator walked into his classroom accompanied by a young woman, his new interpreter for the deaf students.  Several years later, the interpreter became his wife.

Brown has enjoyed seeing many of his former students succeed as chefs.  Brown recalled one high school student, David, who had mental/developmental disabilities but enthusiastically took part in the culinary class.  David later worked his way up from dishwasher to pastry chef at a Ruby Tuesday restaurant.  “Here’s a kid who realistically could have ended up dependent on welfare, but instead, he has a 40-hour job, social interaction, and pride in his work,” Brown said.  Experiences like that, and working with young people like David, convinced Brown to stay in culinary education and return to Johnson & Wales to earn a master’s degree in Culinary Arts Education.  Brown has taught in various settings, including Johnson & Wales University; The International Institute for Culinary Arts in Fall River, Mass.; James L. Hanley Career and Technical School in Providence, R.I.; Durham Public Schools; North Carolina Central University in Durham; Durham Technical Community College; and, most recently, Orange County Public Schools. 

As a high school instructor, Brown managed students with a wide variety of skill levels and expectations.  One class asked if they could just make macaroni and cheese, rather than the more exotic or unusual recipes Brown was using.  The chef relented and devised a gourmet three-cheese macaroni, using Provolone, English farm-house cheddar, and Monterey Jack.  “It was really good,” Chef Brown said with a chuckle, “but the students were disappointed that it didn’t taste like macaroni and cheese from the box.” 

“I usually don’t teach recipes,” Brown continued, “I teach technique.”  He cites as an example that he could teach a student the fundamentals of cream soups, after which a student can craft any sort of cream soup with minimal instruction.  Brown recalls that he and his fellow students at Johnson & Wales would often prepare what they called “cream of refrigerator soup,” because it contained whatever happened to be left in the refrigerator.  One such concoction was Brown’s bacon-lettuce-and-tomato (BLT) soup.  His colleagues had their doubts, but after they tasted the soup, “it was a big hit.”

The chef has his favorite dishes to prepare, including what was once his flashy “signature dish,” Mako Shark Steak Au Poive.   Brown also said he enjoys preparing Cajun dishes, which can be challenging and fascinating.  “I’m a big proponent of knowing why people eat what they eat,” he remarked, noting how a variety of cultures and traditions are intertwined in the food of Louisiana. 

Brown and his wife, Jeannine Borzello-Brown, have been married for nearly six years, and live in Durham with their two-year-old son, Julian.  As it turned out, Jeannine is also a very good cook, and does most of the cooking at home, Brown said, adding, “I’m very lucky.”  Brown also gives his wife most of the credit for the fact that young Julian also enjoys working in the kitchen.  “She’s better about taking the time to teach a two-year-old,” he said.  “He can already make couscous,” Brown remarked with a proud smile. 

For more information about pursuing a culinary technology degree, call Herbert Washington at (252) 738-3228.