The road to success has been a rocky one for Chef Wenford Patrick Simpson.

But despite the many challenges he faced while growing up in rural Jamaica, he never allowed his situation to get the best of him.

Simpson is getting ready to launch a culinary school in Ocho Rios, which will recruit underprivileged children from across the country, to improve their culinary talents for job placements in the hospitality industry. There are also plans to open schools in Montego Bay and Kingston.

“I’m trying to find a way to inspire and take kids off the streets. That way, they will have something to hold on to,” Simpson said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer in New York last Sunday, at the Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival.

Simpson, who was born in May Pen, Clarendon, grew up in St Ann. He attended the Marcus Garvey High School before seeking employment on a cruise ship, due to severe financial difficulties he experienced.

“Growing up was no joke. There were times that I slept on the streets, no food in the house, no lunch money to go to school. Sometimes it was just dumpling and butter we had to eat. When we didn’t have food in the home, I had to go over to the neighbour’s house and wait to see if someone will give me something to eat. When they finished, they’d give me a little of what’s left in the pot … gravy, banana. But then, they turn around and want to work you like a yard boy,” Simpson stated.

“Dealing with poverty, I started gravitating towards cooking, trying to make something out of nothing,” he continued.

Simpson began cooking at a young age, not out of passion but due to sheer necessity. As the only male in the home (he was raised by a single mother), he often found himself in the kitchen trying to provide for mother and sister, when he wasn’t scrounging for scraps to feed himself.

Later, he did internships at various bakeries and restaurants in Jamaica before he was scouted by Royal Caribbean to work on a cruise line in America at the age of 17.

“After school, I worked at Club Caribbean Runaway Bay and then Sandals Ocho Rios before I started working on the cruise ship”, Simpson recalled.

After nine years with Royal Caribbean he moved up from line cook to sous chef, all this time while being the youngest cook on the vessel.

Despite the circumstances he has endured, Simpson’s talent and tenacity were what kept him going. He is currently the executive chef at B B King Blues Club and Grill in Manhattan, New York. He also showcases his culinary showmanship at the Highline Ballroom and The Howard Theatre in Washington D C.

Among the many celebrities he has catered for are presidents, prime ministers, actor and singer Jamie Foxx, actress Phylicia Rashad, actor Taye Diggs, and Hillary Clinton. He also has a culinary show which airs on Tempo called Cook-up with Chef Patrick. He has also done the daytime television circuit, showcasing Jamaica’s culinary delights.

Simpson journeys to Jamaica once a year to give motivational talks to students and to share his story as a means of teaching them how to cook and pursue their dreams.

“I tell them that they can turn it all around and that what they are going through is just one of those things in life, but don’t give up”, Simpson explained.

He added: “’I get so many messages from kids thanking me and telling me how much I have motivated them. These are the things, aside from cooking and creating, just being able to give back.”

Simpson is in the process of completing a book called My Life’s Footprint, where he opens up about growing up underprivileged, his failed suicide attempts, and finding his reason to live.

“I remember the days I used to stand and watch people eat food because I was hungry, and now I am watching people eat food and enjoying my creation. That’s rewarding for me”, Simpson concluded.