Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Chrostowski.
Hi Brandon, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Father, Husband, Business Owner, Mentor, I am just a rambunctious kid from Detroit who was given a second chance.
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, I found myself at 18 years old standing in a courtroom hoping for probation, and that’s what the judge gave me. From there, a local chef took me under his wing as my mentor, and I hit the ground running! It wasn’t until I received a call in 2004 from back home that an old co-worker and friend had been murdered. That call is what inspired me to start EDWINS.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road; the biggest obstacle was changing people’s perception of men and women affected by the justice system.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about EDWINS?
EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute is a social nonprofit that I founded to give second chances to men and women returning home from prison. It is a fine-dining French restaurant and a culinary arts school teaching men and women discipline and skill in fine dining.
Founder, CEO, and president of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute Brandon Edwin Chrostowski is renowned for changing culinary and hospitality training—in and out of the nation’s prisons—while preserving French cooking traditions. His mission-driven effort to train and staff former prison inmates at his flagship French restaurant and nonprofit has created a national model for re-entry and an educational pipeline for formerly incarcerated to learn the discipline and skill of fine dining.
Touting a one percent recidivism rate, his impactful social program provides more than 100 formerly incarcerated adults with free culinary and hospitality arts training each year. Since founding EDWINS in 2007, Chrostowski has reinforced his mission by opening Edwins Too, a culinary incubator and community kitchen; EDWINS Butcher Shop and Bakery and Diner; a Second Chance Life Skills Center with housing and wraparound services; EDWINS Family Center, a nonprofit that provides free daycare to Institute students during class hours; on-site programs at Grafton Correctional Institute and Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center; and offering virtual curriculum to more than 400,000 inmates at prisons across the country. Additionally, Chrostowski has been selected as a keynote speaker to tell the story and successes of EDWINS at several noteworthy benefits and galas, including the Jacques Pépin Foundation’s Sixth Anniversary Celebration.
A classically trained chef and sommelier, Chrostowski honed his skills at fine dining establishments in Paris, New York, and Chicago, including Lucas Carton, Chanterelle, Picholine, Le Cirque, and Charlie Trotter’s. Recognition of his culinary efforts include 2022 James Beard Award Semifinalist; IFMA’s 2020 Silver Plate, CNN 2016 Heroes, Crain’s “40 under 40” Awards; The Richard C. Cornuelle Award from the Manhattan Institute for Social Entrepreneurship; being featured as the subject of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Knife Skills; and features in notable national media outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post and TODAY. Chrostowski earned an associate degree in culinary arts and a bachelor’s degree in business and Restaurant Management from The Culinary Institute of America. He resides in Cleveland with his wife Catana, and their children, Leo, Lilly, and Lynx.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I coach hockey (high school /college).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://edwinsrestaurant.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinscle/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edwinsCLE/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/edwinscle
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/edwins-leadership-and-restaurant-institute-cleveland-3
