Meet Kavaughn Crawley | Private chef

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kavaughn Crawley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kavaughn, how do you think about risk?
The word risk should be my middle name. I feel like if you want to be great you have to risk. A lot of people have dreams but there scared to take the first step to achieve them. People often wait for the approval of others because there so scared of failure . I took a risk and moved to Vail, Colorado when I was 24 without knowing anyone but I knew if I wanted to have CHANGE I’d have to take risk. 4 years later I took another chance and moved to Denver with nothing besides a bag full of clothes & my chef knives. If I didn’t take those risk I wouldn’t be here today.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve spent the past 12 years working in the hospitality industry. I started off bussing table’s but I wanted to find a career I could excel. Truth be told I never wanted to be a chef but bussing tables and washing dishes wasn’t a very appealing for job for me. A chef pulled me aside one day and told me maybe I should think about a career in the culinary industry due to the fact “ I wasn’t scared of hard work”. So at the age of 20 I started off as a prep cook to learn knife skills and I gradually moved myself through the brigade system by working in different kitchens from Florida to Colorado. Due to the fact I never went to culinary school I use to get over looked a lot when it came time for me to get promotions. But it never deterred me from becoming the chef I wanted to become. In my head I was better than any cook who came from Johnson & Wales or CIA. Through out my 11 years in the culinary industry I’ve had a lot of trials & tribulations I’ve had to overcome to get where I am. My biggest lesson I’ve learned is it doesn’t matter how you start, it’s all about how much work are you willing to put in to get where you want to be. I just want the world to know that you can achieve anything you want to as long as your willing to put in the work. In a lot of ways I feel like I’m the definition of the American dream. I came to America at the age of 9 and through all my trials & tribulations I still made something out of nothing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Denver has a lot of things to do no matter what type of budget your on. If a friend came to visit the first spot I would take them to is the 16th street mall. One of my favorite spots to eat at is Hapa sushi on Blake street. I love the atmosphere of the restaurant and of course the sake bombs. I would also take them up to 5 points to Welton street cafe. It’s one of Denver’s only black owned restaurants and it has a lot of history behind it. Another food spot I would take them is Sugars down in Aurora. Sugars caribbean food reminds me of home every time I go there to eat. There’s a Mexican restaurant called Los gallitos that hits the spot as well. Im not a big fan of corporate establishments so I love eating local from city o city in capital hill to hop alley and we can’t forget voodoo donuts. Playing top golf down in centennial is always fun and driving to red rocks is always a blast regardless if your a seasoned hiker or a beginner.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to give a shout-out to my all my closest friends. Growing up a only child in a foreign country life was very different for me but my core group of friends have always been there no matter what I was going through. I feel like there my brothers.

Website: Chickenndabag.com

Instagram: Chicken_n_dabag

Image Credits
Kyle tymon Instagram:Kyletymphotography