‘Life is My Food’
By Adam Pickus
Darius Williams was not supposed to be where he is now. Growing up on the West Side of Chicago achieving his dreams of being a top chef seemed impossible.
Now Williams is a celebrity chef. He is also an entrepreneur and marketing genius, who has exceeded anything he ever thought was possible. He’s overcome hardships and made key life-changing decisions so he could become a popular chef, including quitting a six-figure job. Williams, who has his own cookbook, has appeared on TV shows and he’s toured the country cooking for growing crowds.
“Food is my life and life is my food,” says Williams, who is based in Atlanta. “It’s really been the epicenter of my existence here on Earth. You might laugh, but I’m serious.”
His nom de guerre is “Darius Cooks.” His cookbook, “Stories from My Grandmother’s Cookbook,” was released in early 2015 and sold more than 12,000 copies in six months. Another 6,000 copies have been printed and are ready to be shipped. The book reflects more than family recipes; he also shares stories. Darius dedicated his cookbook to his late grandmother, Pamela Elizabeth Garth-Williams.
“[As a child] what we didn’t have a lot of in material things, we had love and family,” Williams says. “My grandmother was the matriarch of the family, and so a lot of the things that she showed me and memories we have still push me forward today.”
Williams is 6 feet 4 inches tall. His size and beard are the first things many people notice about Williams. He is also well-spoken and confident. He announced his homosexuality to his Facebook friends and fans. Williams embraces his immense size and colorful personality with self-deprecating humor. Part of what makes him so well-liked is his outsized personality, and his warmth will lift you up.
Although Williams’ grandmother passed away, his family roots still play the most significant role in the development of his food and his brand.
“I’m black. Collards are to me what platanos are to Latinos,” Williams says. “It’s my Sunday after church healing. It’s just what we ate. It’s what I know.”
Williams describes the cookbook as “a collection of recipes and stories rooted deep within the bends and curves of the Mississippi River.” The book is filled with mouthwatering recipes like The Ultimate Baked Mac & Cheese, Collard Green & Cornbread Cake and the Chorizo Burger with Sautéed Shrimp and Chipotle Mayo. An essential part of his recipes is that you can go to any grocery store in America to pick up ingredients. It’s what Williams likes to call “familiar ingredients done in new ways.”
If you want to watch Williams cooking some of his favorite dishes, tune in every Monday from 9–11 p.m. EST for “Darius Cooks Live,” which Williams broadcasts live on Periscope, Facebook and blogtalkradio.com. Williams has been a guest on the Food Network’s “Cooking For Real” several times, and he’s also been featured in Essence Magazine and on BlackDoctor.org. He was in a Wal-Mart commercial that aired during the Thanksgiving holiday.
“When you work hard, when you put your head down and you just get the work done, you don’t realize how much progress you’ve made,” Williams says.
Williams says his proudest accomplishment is his brand. He has 216,000 followers on Facebook; 71,000 on Instagram; and 5,000 on Twitter.
“What I wanted to do was figure out the best way to put myself out there and brand myself,” he begins. “So, I started rebranding myself as Darius Cooks and I just started creating cool ideas for recipes.”
Once his brand was established, Williams was able to find a niche in the culinary industry. His seven-course dinner parties, “Dining With Darius Cooks,” became a hit. Williams travels to major cities across the country for “Dining With Darius Cooks.” In 2016, there are 98 live events scheduled in 48 different cities. Sixteen are already sold out.
People will come from far away to attend his shows. At one of his events in Nashville, he noticed how many people had traveled across the country. One couple even flew from New York City to Los Angeles for an event.
Williams resigned from his position as payroll director at Cushman and Wakefield, a global commercial real estate services company, in 2015 to follow his dreams. He credits his former boss, Charlene Kristensen, with instilling confidence.
“Darius was very resourceful and service oriented, never imagining that he would walk away from such a secure, high paying job,” she says. “I was so proud to hear that he had followed his dreams and became so successful so quickly. What an inspiration.”
Growing up in Chicago, Williams didn’t have a mentor. So he cooked.
“I grew up in the inner city where it’s definitely rough. Every odd that you can put against me: single parent, broken household, low income,” Williams says. “If you look at the statistics, I’m not even supposed to be still alive.”
Williams is awed by how far he has come. Upcoming projects include more live cooking broadcasts on Facebook, the release of his second cookbook in 2016 and his first restaurant in 2017.
“It’s surreal to see all the work that goes into it and to see how it ends up,” Williams says. “It’s been a really great experience and it makes me thirsty for a little bit more of that.”
