“I always played soccer and thought that would be what I would do. However, due to an injury, I had to begin thinking about something else. Then this letter came from Johnson & Wales University. That was it. I had always been interested in cooking.” And that’s how André Smith became a chef. It is probably one of the best decisions he has ever made, as he loves what he is doing and does it well.

Growing up in the Port Haywood area of Mathews, André said he learned anything he knew about cooking, “from my grandmother. My dad, William J. Smith Sr., cooked a little but never claimed he could cook. However, his smothered pork chops were great. My mother, Michele E. Waller, was not known for her cooking. She worked and managed a couple 7-Eleven stores and today owns two, one in Hartfield and one in Cooks Corner. Since both my parents worked, I would fix breakfast for my brother and me. The first things I ever cooked were boiled eggs, but soon began doing bacon, sausage and eggs and whatever breakfast called for.”

 André had a passion for cooking as a very young boy but probably didn’t realize it until it became his profession.

While attending school, André learned the ways to improve his skill of cooking realizing he had been using some of the spices, herbs, etc. “but it was here I learned why.” He earned his associate’s degree in culinary arts in 2006 and during his final year, he worked as a sous chef at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, West Virginia, and held that job following graduation until 2009.

 As chefs do, always looking for new experiences and challenges, André made a move and became Food Service Director with Sage Dining Services at Christchurch School in Middlesex. He was there until 2016. From Middlesex to Gloucester, he took on his next challenge where for the past two and half years he has been Dining Services Director at Commonwealth Senior Living (locally known as Gloucester House).

Although his responsibilities of being a chef or food director are vast, his passion for cooking has broadened to include making TV appearances once a month on WTVR CBS 6 Richmond. He is the founder and owner of Andre’s Catering Services. He is executive chef on-call at the Moton Conference Center at Cappahosic, and he cooks at home.

Recently, André competed on the national stage at the first Senior Dining Association’s Culinary Showdown, bringing home an award.

Chef André and his wife, Yesenia, who is general manager at Chick-fil-A in Gloucester, have three children: Andre Smith, Marysol Richardson, and Yasmin Rivera-Flores. They are the proud grandparents of six-month-old Catalyna Rose.

A good quote about André that describes his philosophy about cooking and living: “He strives on a daily basis to make everyone continue to keep a positive attitude throughout their day and to just smile; a smile doesn’t hurt, it helps.”