Multiple districts — After more than three decades in food service, Chef Cliff Rome still credits his success to curiosity and consistency, even during his days washing dishes and peeling potatoes for celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.
Chef Rome spoke last week with students from Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy, Innovation Central, Ottawa Hills, Lee, Crossroads and East Kentwood high schools about the power of persistence in building a career in the hospitality industry.
Rome’s culinary career evolved from cooking with his grandmother as a child in Chicago, to washing dishes, to working in restaurants and on yachts. He founded Rome’s Joy Companies and will lead food service and catering for the Obama Presidential Center, opening in Chicago in June.
“When I was washing dishes, I was curious and I watched other people in the kitchen and other restaurants, just to see if something sparked,” Rome said. “The harder you work, the further you go. More importantly, you meet a lot of people along the way.”
Jordoun Eatman, Experience Grand Rapids’ vice president of engagement and inclusion, facilitated the conversation with Rome at three school buildings across different districts, in collaboration with their respective hospitality programs.
Experience Grand Rapids has been involved with GRPS for the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism program at Ottawa Hills High School since 2023. The partnership began in 2019, but halted temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic. The academy is now in its first year at Lee High School.
Sophomore Jocelyn Vazquez Reyna is one of 20 students in Lee’s inaugural Academy of Hospitality and Tourism.
“I learned that I should be very curious about everything, including my education and hospitality,” she said. “(Chef Rome) mentioning culinary kind of made you curious about it as a career path, you know?”
Eatman said it was important to provide local students with access and connections “right in their own backyard.”
“Chef Rome’s visit represents a meaningful opportunity for students to engage directly with a nationally recognized leader during Black History Month, whose career reflects excellence, discipline and the transformative power of hospitality,” he said.
Pursue Your Passion, Practice for Consistency
Rome discussed the many avenues within hospitality and food service to pursue, and said it’s not just about food.
“It’s an incredible journey,” he told students. “I’m not here to sell you on something that’s magical or mystical. It’s for real. It is possible. Food has afforded me the opportunity to travel and do things that most people will never do in their lifetime.”
The chef encouraged students to focus on their academics and do well in school, so they’re set up to excel in the workforce.
“It’s just like sports,” he said. “You don’t practice for perfection. Perfect costs too much. What you’re practicing for is consistency.”
Ottawa Hills senior DeShawn Jones said he thought Chef Rome’s conversation was “insightful and inspiring.”
“We got to hear about his upbringing and how his passions for cooking brought him to the situations he is in,” he said.
The idea of being passionate about a career, DeShawn said, is his main driving force to do well in school and pursue higher education, and eventually, law school.
“Being a young Black man in America, I see a lot of things every day that inspire me to correct what’s going on in the world,” he said. “With law, I feel like I’d be making changes that can affect someone’s life. … I can’t save someone’s life (but I can help) put them in a better situation.”
Read more from our districts:
• Pilot class helps students navigate college, early careers
• Hospitality & tourism academy prepares students for ‘life beyond the classroom’
