Culinary Concepts AB awarded $25K grant

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - A Charlottesville company says it’ll be using grant money to help create a new generation of passionate cooks.

Culinary Concepts AB was recently award $25,000 from Tito’s Vodka.

“The $25,000 is going to help us do more of the work that we’re currently doing. It’s going to help empower our training programs and be able to connect with more people,” Antwon Brinson said.

Brinson says he started Culinary Concepts AB to help help those who want to move up in the restaurant industry.

“Our goal for the students that are coming into the program is to walk away with a better sense of who they are, what they want in life with the goals that they have established in the program,” Brinson said.

He says his program can turn someone with no experience in the kitchen into a cook in just eight weeks.

Brinson plans to use grant funds to give more hands-on teaching, and teaching more students. This includes Chinica Bowles, a Culinary Concepts AB alumna.

“It’s not always about cooking. So it’s like I learned a lot about me in the process of the programs. That was that helped me a lot,” Bowles said. “There’s really not a lot of programs like this, so I think it’s going to open a lot of doors for new people.”

“I seen an opportunity to be able to take folks that don’t want to go to college that end up in the restaurant industry and help them set a foundation. Our goal is really to create a new generation of folks that are that are passionate about cooking and connect them to opportunities,” Brinson said.

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