Five years ago Chef Derrick packed his car for the ultimate embark to the West Coast where he’d work in some of America’s hottest restaurants. Today, he’s back home in his native Baltimore backyard using techniques, ingredients, and a mindset that was born in this city, before blossoming in Los Angeles.
His introduction to the culinary world first began in 2012, as a simple means to make money while attending his local college. Through the suggestion of a previous teacher, he had gotten a job rolling silverware and quickly became fascinated with the hot side of the kitchen. A few prep positions later, he found himself enrolling in Stratford University for the Culinary Arts and his journey to fine dining began.
His style of food is best described as personal, yet accepting to all, inviting flavors from the Italian, Japanese, and French restaurants in which he’d train in while living in Los Angeles. His dishes evoke feelings of nostalgia, and familiarity while offering a modern approach to the plating. It’s fancy, but it’s playful often sprouting from a silly childhood memory he has from visiting family in North Carolina, or the hot summers spent home, here in Baltimore. His cooking is fun.
Today, Chef Derrick is the CDC of The Titled Row, an upscale southern restaurant located in Bolton Hill, named after the marbled staircases that so famously represent Baltimore and its neighborhoods.