hen I went to prison, I was angry with God, white people, my mother, my father, everybody who I felt was responsible for my incarceration,” says Jeff Henderson, 44, who is best known these days as Chef Jeff, the culinary master, “New York Times” best-selling author, star on the Food Network and mentor to anyone yearning for proof that God’s miracles abound.

“It wasn’t until I accepted responsibility that I realized I had made a choice to do what I did,” Henderson says, referencing his drug-dealing days on the streets of Los Angeles and San Diego. In 1988, he was arrested and charged with the crime of selling cocaine. He served nearly 10 years in a U.S. federal penitentiary. He was sentenced to nearly 20 years.

Henderson did not learn to cook in a world-class culinary arts program. He learned his craft in prison. He discovered his talent after gaining kitchen duty, scrubbing pots and pans as a punishment for not showing up to sweep cigarette butts and pick up trash. He soon fought for more responsibility and fought to keep it. The arena was quite competitive and threatening, he recalls.

“I found peace with the Lord in prison and made him the foundation of my life.”

Chef Jeff learned more than cooking while in prison. “I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior as a young child. I rededicated my life to Christ several years into my incarceration. I found peace with the Lord in prison and made him the foundation of my life,” he states.

Chef Jeff’s path to fame

“I am a true believer and credit my success and life change to God. I believe I’ve been made a living example by him that through his Word all things are possible,” says Henderson.

He experienced multiple setbacks in and out of prison, but says he refused to give up and rose to become the first African American to “man the stoves of a restaurant at the Bellagio Hotel” in Las Vegas.

His first book happened when a literary agent discovered Henderson post-prison because of the buzz created on a blog due to his scared-straight presentations to youth. He’s turned up the heat ever since.

"The Chef Jeff Project," a docu-reality television series, filmed in Los Angeles, recently finished its stint on the Food Network. Henderson had 28 days to change the lives of six culturally diverse at-risk young people through food. “This is your shining moment,” Henderson said to his apprentices, standing motionless and fixated. “I believe in you.” Then things got rough – boot camp ala carte.

The Food Network’s Web site features videos of the show and Henderson’s juicy biography. Comparing the usual cooking shows to "The Chef Jeff Project," Bruce Seidel, host of the FN Dish comments, “It’s a little different for us at the Food Network.”

Front cover of "Cooked: My Journey from the Streets to the Stove"

Henderson became a best-selling author in 2007 after penning his memoir in hardcover. The paperback version, titled, “Cooked: My Journey from the Streets to the Stove” (Harper), hit the bookshelves in 2008. “I thank God every day for the journey that went on. I believe that it was a sacrifice. It was a plan that he had for me to really take a look at myself. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. And I’m truly blessed for everything that I have today,” says Henderson

His second 2008 project is titled, “Chef Jeff Cooks: In the Kitchen with America’s Inspirational New Culinary Star” (Scribner), a traditional cookbook featuring side dishes of Henderson’s flavorful life stories. In it, he writes, “God gave me my life’s vision behind the stove, and cooking has become my gift to you.”

After an appearance on "The Oprah Show," he received an offer to portray his life on the big screen. “About two hours after Oprah, I got a call from Will Smith and Sony Pictures,” Henderson says. The rights to his story were purchased and a screenplay is under construction. Will Smith will likely play Henderson on screen.

It’s not all glitz and glamour, he insists, though he routinely makes the rounds of speaking engagements and television guest spots, such as his January 2009 appearance on “The Today Show.”

More than culinary skills

His days can begin as early as 3 a.m. “I say I’m still on penitentiary time because we used to be up at 3:30 in the morning to hit the bakery,” Henderson says.

“We have our own company, The Henderson Group,” says his wife Stacy, who works alongside her husband. They also established Posh Urban Cuisine, their catering company featured on "The Chef Jeff Project."

“I’m on a whole other level,” Henderson says, “and my work is very, very important to me.” He eagerly shares his tumultuous plummet to rock bottom and his rise to success once he decided to depend on Jesus Christ, the Rock. Today, he says he’s trying to build a legacy, “a legacy for my kids and other kids.” His wife points out that he does “a ton” of public speaking, serves as the spokesperson for several different organizations and performs community-service work.

Henderson says "The Chef Jeff Project" is 40 percent cooking and 60 percent life skills. The six young apprentices featured on the TV show learned how to interact with one another, solve problems and juggle responsibilities through the tempered guise and metaphor of a hot kitchen. They worked in Henderson’s Posh Urban Cuisine catering business, serving high-end clients and gala affairs. “They had to learn how to deal with all kinds of problems and issues,” he explains. The premise of the show is that Chef Jeff could turn the young people’s lives around through cooking.

Jeff Henderson and apprentices on the docu-reality television series, "The Chef Jeff Project" Credit: Food Network

“What struck me about the show,” comments Robin Farmer, a viewer in Richmond, Va., “was that he had this background of a former tough guy. He served time in prison; but when I saw him interact with those kids, I didn’t feel like he was doing it for television. I felt like his emotions were really raw and that he was genuine. And I especially liked how he didn’t hesitate to hug even the guys.”

One of the apprentices, Kathy, said she came from a devout Christian family – a family she let down after falling into drug addiction. Several of the apprentices had estranged family relationships. Some had experienced jail time. All six chefs-in-the-making viewed "The Chef Jeff Project" as a door to opportunity.

A bigger leading role: father and husband

Chef Jeff intentionally carves out time for his wife, Stacy Womack-Henderson, and his daddy duties such as taking their three children, ages 7, 9 and 11, to school. When Henderson talks about his family, his toothy smile, a smile that is selective, is as inviting as seeing warm caramel fold into warmer chocolate.

Henderson has four children. He fathered his first child (now 26) before he went to prison. “He was five when I went away,” he says. Looking off into the distance, his jaw clinches with a dash of reality when he relates, “Another guy raised him. He’s a good kid. So we’re like friends. We’re not really like daddy and son because the other guy raised him up – so they’re pretty tight.”

The Henderson family. Left to right: Noel, Stacy, Troy, Jeffery Jr., Jeff

Henderson stresses he’s been given a second chance at family and he’s determined to give his family his all. Prison played a divine role in Henderson’s love life as well. He met Stacy during his prison time.

“We had a mutual friend,” Stacy recalls, who urged her to encourage Henderson through correspondence. “She always used to tell me, ‘He’s real sweet, he’s a real nice guy, he’s funny,’” Stacy says. Henderson wrote the first letter. She responded. Letters migrated into phone calls. A friendship emerged. Then love bloomed. “I have a beautiful wife who was down with me when I had nothing. She jumped on board and was right there to receive me on the day I got out of jail,” Henderson says.

Stacy adds, “Our marriage is built on faith. God is the only way you can make it through. I don’t know how you can make it without him.”

She is an offspring of musical “royalty.” Her mother was the Rhythm and Blues recording artist Mary Wells, dubbed Motown’s First Lady, and best known for her international hit song, “My Guy,” and others. The Beatles, with whom she became friends, called Wells their favorite American singer. Though Stacy says she never met him, the late legendary singer Sam Cook “was kind of my grandfather.” And R&B singer Bobby Womack is her uncle.

Henderson beams when he shamelessly boasts that she’s a wonderful songwriter with a lovely singing voice. “She takes after her mother,” he says. In her spare time, Stacy writes some songs for the movie about Jeff’s life story. She adds, “Look to hear some stuff coming from me the latter part of the year or the beginning of 2010.”

Stacy homeschooled their children when they were young. She still prepares special diets for them. Fast foods are out, she stresses. “She is a purebred mother and the most passionate mother I’ve ever known in my life,” says Henderson.

On the food front, the children are vegans and Stacy is a vegetarian. She denies allegations of gently nudging her husband, the master chef, to ingest the same. “I still eat a little meat, you know,” he says, while laughing. “Chef Jeff Cooks” is filled with tempting recipes that can be converted to vegetarian dishes.

Mentoring matters

Though Henderson stresses his mother and grandparents loved and tried to protect him, he spent his formative years in a single-parent home, mired in poverty, substance abuse and in a criminal atmosphere. In his twenties, he built an estimated $35,000 a week drug-dealing business.

From the men of color behind bars – men washed fresh with revelation of their own – Henderson found mentors and father figures. Some were from the Nation of Islam. However, he states, “Absolutely I am a Christian, so I didn’t embrace their religious rhetoric. But the social component, the social message – love your black woman, love your brothers and sisters, don’t hurt people who look like you, walk like you and talk like you – that’s when I realized that I could never, ever sell crack again.”

“The white boys,” Henderson says, showing off his sly smile, “invited me into the TV room to watch “60 Minutes.” Soon after, Henderson nourished himself on “Newsweek,” “U.S. News” and the like. He debated his fellow inmates and counselors on social and religious issues. He read and researched all he could.

“It really built my self-esteem and allowed me to think and look outside of the box. Because, you know, I grew up in a box. And I was able to travel and experience situations and circumstances and have fun around the world through reading. Reading empowered me.”

“One of the white boys in jail said to me, ‘Jeff, you have all the skills of a businessman. When you were on the street, you understood branding, marketing and public relations. You knew how to manage people. All you gotta’ do is change your product – give it some integrity.’ And that’s what I did.”

Jeff Henderson

With a granite eye-to-eye expression, he adds, “I don’t party. I don’t drink. I don’t get high – never have done drugs in my life.” What he does do, he stresses, is associate with people who are involved with the business of cooking and mentoring.

He’s hopeful that his next literary offering will comprise a detailed study of ex-offenders – those who make it on the outside and those who don’t.

While he insists that there are plenty like him who are leading productive lives, he thinks it’s important to interview guys who are habitual re-offenders “because they do perfect in jail. They’re leaders. They never go to the hole. They never get into trouble, but as soon as they get out – boom. Finding that ‘why’ is important.”

Henderson visits prisons, stops by libraries, civic groups, the playground, anywhere he feels he can feed a soul and make a difference. “I believe my true calling is saving lives,” he states.

No matter the audience for his mentoring, cooking is his platform. “The Lord used food to save my life. I’m not a holy-roller, but I do preach the Gospel in my own way,” says Henderson. “When I have a platform, I talk about the Lord and having faith not only in one’s self but faith in him as well.”