Acting on a passion for food and to help others

Chef Chad Houser (center), a graduate of El Centro College in Texas, works with students at Café Momentum, a nonprofit restaurant and culinary training facility. (Photo: Dallas County Community College District)

Editor’s note: This article begins a series on the three recipients of the 2018 American Association of Community Colleges Alumni Awards, which will be presented May 1 at the AACC Annual Convention in Dallas.

It’s a tall order: give troubled young men and women an opportunity to redirect their lives. But Chef Chad Houser does just that.

Houser is the mastermind behind Dallas’ thriving Café Momentum, a nonprofit restaurant and culinary training facility. It’s a place where at-risk youth learn life and job skills…skills that can break the cycle of violence and crime that many have faced.

“I grew up believing food was about more than just nurturing the body; it also nurtures the soul,” Houser says.

Houser is a graduate of El Centro College, part of the Dallas County Community College District. He says the faculty there “inspired me to always cook from the heart.”

A life-changing moment

After 17 years as a chef, a single interaction led Houser to make a life-changing decision. He had helped at-risk youth and juvenile offenders in an ice cream making contest at the Dallas Farmers Market. That sense of pride he saw in those boys was something he wanted to elicit on an ongoing basis.

Houser sold his partnership in restaurant Parigi, and, with colleague Janice Provost, founded Café Momentum in 2012. Houser and his youthful crew began doing monthly pop-up dinners in respected restaurants. Now, the restaurant has a permanent space and has become a fixture in Dallas.

Houser’s contributions have been widely recognized. He’s been named a local hero, and he’s in the El Centro College Food and Hospitality Institute Hall of Fame.

According to Houser, “It’s not about training kids to be the next great chef; it’s not about just keeping them out of jail. It’s about helping them to achieve their full potential.”

About the Author

Tabitha Whissemore
Tabitha Whissemore is a contributor to Community College Daily and managing editor of AACC's Community College Journal.