Welcome to the Evolving Man Project’s “Evolved Man of the Week” profiles. Each week we will highlight an individual that embodies what it means to be an evolved man, famous and non-famous men alike. The world needs to know their stories and deeds. This week’s honor goes to chefs Quinnton Austin and Kelston Moore.
The U.S. Navy Veteran, then 31-year-old Kelston Moore, had gone to culinary school, become a personal chef, and relocated back to San Diego to be closer to his young son.
Disappointment after disappointment made Moore feel that he had much to prove and needed to build himself into a respected chef alone. But his would-be signature dish—crab cakes—wasn’t holding together, which he took as a sign: Seeking advice, he contacted about 20 local chefs. Most of them ghosted him, but then Quinnton Austin, the 34-year-old owner of a restaurant called Louisiana Purchase, DMed him back on Facebook with a tip: Use breadcrumbs as a binder.
That helped Moore perfect his dish and started a more significant collaboration built around selflessness, a value Austin had already recognized in Moore.
Other chefs may have seen Moore as a threat or unworthy of their time, but for Austin, “there are better results when you bring people together,” he says. “Kelston came from nothing, just like me. His goals are the same as mine, where he wants to put people on [their way to success].“
Growing up in Barbados and watching his father go from cooking at his job at a resort to coming home and cooking for friends and family created a culinary passion in Kelston Moore that he’s carried into his professional life.
In between fatherhood, working as a private chef and as the chef at the Cococabana Rooftop Bar at The Brick Hotel in Oceanside (scheduled to open later this year), Moore’s providing support for fellow chefs as co-founder of the Bad Boyz of Culinary with friend and colleague Quinnton Austin, executive chef and co-owner of Louisiana Purchase.
The Bad Boyz of Culinary is a collective of local chefs building community and providing guidance and resources to up-and-coming Black chefs in San Diego. They do this through scholarships, events, mentoring, and special programs, while also creating community with each other.
Here is Kelston Moore about how he developed his passion for becoming a chef:
“I grew up cooking, and I loved it, but it was my best friend, Jason Thompson, inviting me to cook with him for an admiral’s change of command at the USS Midway to solidify it as a career for me. I observed as he created dishes so elegant, but also complex. I wanted to learn, I was eager, and that was the moment that I decided to take it seriously. That decision led to me being selected for the Navy’s culinary team.”
We at the Evolving Man Project applaud the Bad Boyz of Culinary for allowing up-and-coming black chefs to grow in the profession. Just like Quinnton gave Kelston a chance with a Facebook message and some encouragement. It led to a friendship and creation of a fantastic collective designed to uplift and mentor other upcoming chefs in San Diego. Today we honor Quinnton Moore and Kelston Austin as our Evolved Men of the Week.
Evolving Folks Project 