Artist Spotlight: Chef Jayaun Smith

Kansas City is thriving with new talent and young entrepreneurs anxious to spread their gifts. Jayaun Smith has recently stepped onto the Kansas City scene as an up and coming chef ready to take culinary arts in our city to new levels. Through his delicious cuisines and heavy community involvement Chef Jay has won the taste buds of many.

Chef Jay really began his cooking journey while attending Raytown High School where he participated in cooking programs provided by the school. He was inspired by the ideal of competition when watching shows like Iron Chef America. His grandmother often exposed him to a variety of foods which inspired him to get in the kitchen himself. While being involved in the Herndon Career Center, Jayaun competed in numerous competitions. He knew from those experiences that he wanted to turn his passion into a career and pursue culinary arts.

“I want to make people smile with food,” was a statement the chef made showing his love for people and food. Jayaun is passionate about giving back to his community and exposing his community to a variety of good foods. He dedicates majority of his time to his rigorous school curriculum, his part time catering job and his own personal catering services. Through his personal catering services, Jayaun has had the opportunity to work with many people in Kansas City and please people's appetite with his popular crab leg dish. Although all this leaves little room for other things, Jayaun still finds time to spend with his family and close friends.

Age, education, and creativity are a few things Chef Jay feels makes him stand out among competitors. He believes being hardworking, loving and genuine has got him to where he is today. Chef Jay also gives thanks to his mother, grandmother, and uncle for pushing him and showing him his full potential.The biggest lesson in his journey so far has been accepting failure. He believes failure is apart of the road to true success and views it as a learning experience. Some of the best moments for him so far have been all the support he’s received and getting the chance to work with celebrities like DC Young Fly.

Jayaun is working to receive his Associates in Applied Science  and his certification in Sous Chef from Johnson County Community College this December. He is aiming to be the Top Chef in Kansas City, give back to the Kansas City community and one day have his very own food tour. Chef Jay plans on doing a lot of traveling to spread his food to as many people as possible. Being a celebrity chef is his dream job and with determination and hardwork he knows he is on his way to the top. You can check out Chef Jays work on his instagram page @ChefJayaun.

Post Author: Gabriel  Cole