“I’m where I want to be,” emphasized the Executive Sous Chef (Chef de Cuisine) at Tides Inn in Irvington. “This is such a great place to be associated with and to work for,” said Jonathan Lewis of Mathews.

Lewis was a college math major when he discovered cooking was his passion. He had planned to be a math teacher. But one day on his way to class, stopping by the library, he picked up a book on culinary schools.

He was hooked. It took him a while to make up his mind but once he did, there was no stopping him from making it work. It was quite a shock to his parents but his wife was in complete agreement. “I told my parents at a ball game so they couldn’t say much,” he said.

Jonathan enrolled in J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College culinary courses and upon receiving his associate degree, his career began.

Jonathan had shown some interest in cooking at an earlier age but nothing like what he is doing now. “At six or seven I coo...