Getting to know chef Kortez Wilson
Adults find their identities through many different social stages throughout their lives. One of those social stages being school. School can be pretty memorable in either a negative or positive way based on what kind of teacher you have and Jason Baskind, a student of Kortez Wilson’s, seems to have found a good one.
“I love Chef Kortez,” Baskind said.
Kortez Wilson is a culinary instructor at Beachwood High School and a chef at Tommy’s restaurant. He has been an instructor at the high school for over 10 years and a chef at Tommy’s throughout his life. He started working as a busboy and server while at Cleveland Heights high school at the restaurant and worked his way up to a chef. Now Tommy’s is a place for his students to gain experience in the restaurant business.
Wilson was born on June 12, 1979 in the quiet town of Shaker Heights with his five siblings. With his mom being busy providing for her family, Wilson quickly took on the role of caretaker. In his caretaking, he would cook his sibling’s meals and that was where his passion for food began. After high school, he attended the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute where he thrived as an eager student.
“I loved it there. We would go to all the sporting events for free and everything was in walking distance. The restaurants, everything” Wilson said.
After graduating from college, Wilson moved back home to Ohio. He found an open position at the Mustard Seed, with the help of his wife Robin Wilson and worked there as an executive chef for seven years. After that, he found a position as an assistant team leader at Whole Foods Market. All of these experiences provided the chef with the foundation of becoming an instructor at Beachwood High School. But in order to teach, he had to go back to school for his Bachelor’s. Wilson took classes at Cleveland State and Kent State and left with a degree in Career Technical Education.
Beachwood High School is based in an affluent neighborhood and attracts people not only for its education system, but also for its restaurant. The career technical engineer program, also known as the Beachwood Bistro to non-students, has been open for over 45 years and is another part of Chef Wilson’s job.
“The Bistro prepares students to receive college credit at the high school level for industry and post-secondary education,” Wilson said.
There he teaches students how to run every aspect of a restaurant. The Bistro is usually open Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The students prepare dishes under the supervision of Chef Wilson and Danette Mchale. Ashley Rome, a former student of Chef Wilson, feels that her instructor helped her to become the person she is today.
“He’s a very pushy and productive person. He pushes you to strive for greatness past what you think you are capable of” Rome said.