Dorchester’s Chef Valentine dishes on ‘Top Chef,’ Fenway dining, and how the kitchen is like football
Dorchester’s Valentine Howell Jr. likes to talk about fate — the word pops up a few times during our interview. Fate, perhaps, steered the 6-foot-4, 300-pound Howell away from collegiate football when he got injured his senior year at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. Instead, he immersed himself in his culinary education, earning his bachelor’s degree in hotel, restaurant, and hospitality management from Newbury College.
Fate, he says, also led him to Boston’s Krasi — a post he has since left, but where, as executive chef, he became a 2023 James Beard award finalist for Best Chef: Northeast.
And it was “divine fate,” says Valentine Jr., that he was born on Valentine’s Day. (“My dad’s name is Valentine. So they were like, ‘Now we have no choice.’”)
But it was heart that landed Howell on Bravo’s “Top Chef.”
“I love cooking,” says the chef, who as a teen worked at Dorchester Papa Gino’s. “I love the high-intensity situation in the kitchen. I thrive under that pressure. It’s like making a diamond.”
Season 21 of the cooking reality show, filmed in Wisconsin, premieres Wednesday at 9 p.m. on Bravo. Howell is among the 15 chefs vying for $250,000.
Kristen Kish, season 10 winner and onetime Boston-area top chef, is the new host. She’s joined by judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, along with star cameos, including (bam!) Fall River’s own Emeril Lagasse, “Top Chef ” alum Carla Hall, and Matty Matheson of “The Bear.”
While Howell couldn’t talk show details, he dished on his Boston roots, how the kitchen is like football, and his next goal for his Caribbean/Afro-Latin food concept Black Cat — popping up at Lamplighter Brewing March 24.
Q. “Top Chef ” has always been on your bucket list. How’d you find out you made it?
A. I got a call in the middle of service [at Krasi] and frantically ran out. I probably screamed the loudest I’ve ever screamed in the back alley.
Q. [Laughs] Where do you work now?
A. I’m executive chef for Education First, in Cambridge. And I’m focusing on Black Cat, trying to get that off the ground. Currently we pop up at breweries, [and we’re] starting to get into catered events. I’m trying to give this thing some wings and make it fly.
Q. What’s your focus there?
A. Afro-Caribbean/Latin cuisine. I grew up in a multicultural household: My mom is Italian American; my father is from Jamaica; my stepdad is Haitian. I have a lot of Latin friends. I take those influences and put them into making non-traditional tacos, side dishes, and other morsels.
Q. You live in Dorchester, and grew up in Boston. Did you always love cooking? A. Oh, yeah. Everything involved food. If you lost a tooth, we were throwing a party.
Q. [Laughs] Sounds like you wanted to be a chef from a young age — you studied culinary in high school.
A. But once I got there, culinary took a backseat. I wanted to join the military and almost did, except my mom got really sick. So I didn’t want to leave.
Then I was going to play collegiate football, but got injured — midway through the season I dislocated my patella and tore my MCL. But I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I immersed myself in culinary [arts].
Once I got a couple of stages [unpaid restaurant internships], I was bitten by the bug. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Q. Did it remind you of football?
A. Definitely. Football has the same situations — being under pressure, the camaraderie, everybody working towards one goal, the whole nine.
Q. Were you nervous on “Top Chef ”?
A. Yeah, this was a big step, putting yourself out there. But I’m super proud of what I did and how I did. I met beautiful people I can consider friends for life. I learned a lot about myself. It was an eye-opener.
‘Football has the same situations — being under pressure, the camaraderie, everybody working towards one goal, the whole nine.’
Q. How many restaurant jobs have you had?
A. Countless. I did a stint at Fenway Park. I was there, actually, when they first went back to the World Series in 2007. I worked their State Street pavilion, then the sit-down restaurant — white tablecloths, porcelain plates.
Q. Are you going to have a watch party? A. Probably. I’m still not 100 percent I want to watch it. It’s like listening to yourself on a voicemail. Nobody likes hearing themselves on a voicemail.
Q. [Laughs] Right. But your friends and family must be pumped.
A. Oh yeah. They’ve been the biggest supporters from day one. You know, [this industry] can break a lot of people. I’m really glad there’s been light shed on mental health. It’s good to have friends and family to be your rock.
Q. Do you watch “The Bear”?
A. I watched the first episode, and after that, I’ll be honest, it was PTSD for me.
Q. So you told me your next goal is finding venues to expand Black Cat to plated dinners. Do you eventually hope to open a full-time restaurant?
A. For sure. I think the city could use more of what I’m trying to do. I’d like to show a little more range.
Q. Would you do another cooking competition show?
A. I’ve always wanted to be on “Chopped.”
Learn more at bravotv.com/top-chef.