On any given day, you might find Chef D. Brandon Walker whipping up gourmet dishes like steak adobo, crepes, or house-made onion rings stuffed with steak. But what makes these beautifully plated meals extra special is that they’re not being served at a fine-dining restaurant; instead, they’re placed in front of homeless individuals at the Bread and Roses Café in Venice, California.
Walker has been the executive chef of the sit-down restaurant run by the St. Joseph’s Center for the last decade. At Bread and Roses, volunteer waiters serve guests free meals at tables covered with tablecloths and vases filled with fresh flowers. The cafe also serves as a training ground for future chefs enrolled in the center’s Culinary Training Program (CTP), something that is run by Walker as well.
The program accepts students with varied backgrounds—including people who are homeless, fighting addiction, formerly incarcerated, youths in the foster system, and veterans—and puts them through a 10-week course that includes externships at some of Los Angeles’ hottest restaurants.
“I would say 50 percent of them get hired at the externship placement,” Walker says. “If they don’t [get] or choose not to be hired there, then we’ll go ahead and do a job search with them until they’re working.” Walker, who is a “Chopped” champion and runs Commis Catering company, is currently in the process of opening his own restaurant called The Mar Vista this fall with one of his CTP graduates, Jorge Rivas (former executive chef at Blue Plate Oysterette). Walker plans on hiring CTP externs at his eatery, and also donating excess food and supplies to Bread and Roses.
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