Bryan Hight:  

Bryan Hight – Restaurateur, Chef, Visionary When Bryan Hight started his culinary career he didn’t really understand what he was getting into, he was only fifteen after all. Standing in his first kitchen, just a few blocks from his house in Hawaii, with adrenalin pumping and eyes wide open he surveyed the madness surrounding him and instead of thinking, as any sensible man would, “That way madness lies,” he simply smiled, knowing he had come home. Three decades later, he has become the head of the household; creative in the kitchen, analytical in the board room and respected in both. Driven by passion and a love of the industry, he is the consummate Restaurateur. Hight is no ordinary Restaurateur however. While he was classically trained at the Baltimore International Culinary College after gaining his degree in Hospitality Management at Howard University, his approach to the industry is anything but classical. He continually challenges the status quo, sees opportunity where others only see limitations and pushes the boundaries of conventional thinking. Through this Hight creates concepts that resonate, that excite both palate and mind, and that are above all, profitable. In much the same way as a great concert pianist must first learn the notes before throwing out the sheet music, Hight worked his way through bars, kitchens and dining rooms both in the US and Europe, learning every “note” of his trade before setting out on his own. With the tutelage of Chef Joseph Clinton behind him and the knowledge gained from working with game changers such as Paul Cohen and Barbara Smith and Dan Gasby – of Capital Restaurant Concepts and B.Smith's respectively – Hight mastered his craft. He also confirmed what he had long suspected; that success in the industry required not only talent, creativity and passion, it required the courage to stake everything and the hide of an elephant to withstand the inevitable setbacks. This insight served him well. Hight’s first independent venture, one that had been two years in the making and many more in the planning, fell through when along with thousands of others his life changed on 9/11. Thankfully Hight’s loss was only that of a dream when his bank loan, which was due to be granted a short week later, w...Expand for more