FOOD COURT n CHEF PROFILE
A Full Time Entrepreneur
By Chef Todd
“ There’ s nowhere you can be that isn’ t where you’ re meant to be.” – John Lennon
For some the journey to the career of your dreams is long and winding. There may be an inkling of who or what you should be, but the development can take a few years and roadblocks can be plentiful. Marcus Todd Fitzpatrick’ s road to his life’ s work took a few different changes before he found his true calling. Born the oldest of three children, Fitzpatrick grew up in Orlando and graduated from Jones High School. Like so many young men, Fitzpatrick didn’ t have any solid career ideas in mind, but he was certain of one thing— he wanted to make his parents proud. The son of Calvin and Debra Ftizpatrick thought he’ d figured life out when he left for Florida A & M University in Tallahassee, FL. Little did he know just how dramatically his life would change.
As a child Fitzpatrick had always been creative in the kitchen. As the oldest, he found great pleasure in creating meals for his younger siblings. Always eager to try his next culinary creation, his family encouraged his interest in the culinary arts, but they all saw it as nothing more than a fleeting hobby. He had such a natural knack for being creative in many different areas, it seemed he was always taking things apart and creating something new. This need to feed his hunger for creativity eventually lead him to attend Florida A & M University as a Mechanical Engineering major. While attending FAMU Fitzpatrick started realizing that Engineering did not feed his creativity like he thought it would, so after his sophomore year he returned to his roots in Orlando.
Naturally, he began reflecting on the best times in his life and if there was any connection to his future. Fitzpatrick spent a great deal of his youth with his grandmother and father in the kitchen. He developed an interest in cooking early on while watching his grandmother make many of his childhood favorites. It wasn’ t until several years later that he started to develop more elaborate dishes; his hobby was becoming his passion. It was through this self discovery that Chef Todd was born.
In 2015 he decided he wanted to take his passion for culinary to the next level. With the help of his Mother and Uncle, he entered a culinary arts program at the Second Harvest Food Bank that would give him the jump start he needed. Initially he thought he would not be able to get into the program, but, once he did he realized it was more difficult than he imaged. So many times, he wanted to quit because he was working full time overnight and going to school full time during the days. Most times he only got about three hours of sleep. Whenever he thought about quitting, he renewed his motivation with thoughts of his parents and his promise to make them proud. With the help of his three Chef Instructors— Chef Israel Santiago, Chef Jill Holland and Chef John Dizon— and mentors, he graduated in December 2015.
After graduating from the Second Harvest Program, it was difficult to find a job due to his limited experience as a professional cook. After months of job searching and interviews, he found one restaurant willing to take a chance
46 IBA Success Magazine n VOL 4, Issue 3