Edible Blue Ridge Spring 2023

MOVERS & SHAKERS

MOVERS & SHAKERS: ANTWON BRINSON

WORDS Jennifer Waldera

Eze Amos

PHOTOS

If you tuned into HBO Max’s “The Big Brunch,” it may have been the first time you got a taste of what Chef Antwon Brinson brings to the table, in terms of both food and heart. But many in Charlottesville, Virginia were already familiar with Brinson through his ongoing work, which has touched the lives of countless individuals in the food industry as well as the community as a whole. Brinson took the long route to Charlottesville from his hometown near Niagara Falls, exploring, learning, and cooking his way through West Virginia, Kaua’i, Palm Springs, San Francisco, and the Virgin Islands. Along the way, he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and completed a three-year apprenticeship at the prestigious Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. After cooking at fine dining establishments throughout the country, Brinson made Charlottesville his home when he accepted the role of Executive Chef at Common House, which he helped to open. In time, though, Brinson felt compelled to marry his natural love of teaching with his talents and skills in the kitchen and launched his brainchild, which would eventually be known as Culinary Concepts AB.

In only a few months after departing from Common House, Brinson had established Culinary Concepts AB, an organization that offered focused programs to help culinary professionals quickly develop soft skills, like flexibility and discipline, alongside skills like cooking and goal-setting to propel them forward in the industry. Within a short period of time, eight classes of ambitious professionals graduated from Brinson’s five-week, boot camp-style program with the skills and certifications that put them in a position to be sought after and hired by restaurants both locally and beyond. Adhering to his principle that desire to affect change requires you to be a part of that change, Brinson expanded his reach in the community by speaking at local engagements, teaching in prisons, and educating at festivals. He also created partnerships with high schools and worked with the National Restaurant Association to form classes that offer micro-credentials and other certifications within the industry. Additionally, Brinson affects meaningful change by serving on the boards or committees of Piedmont Workforce Network, Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, Black Professional Network, CATEC Community College, and Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center.

8 | edible blue ridge SPRING 2023