Chef Roderick (Pete) Smith

A Jacksonville native, graduated from Wolfson High School in 1998 before attending the Southeast Institute of Culinary Arts in St. Augustine, Florida. When graduating in 2000. Chef Pete has been exposed to various areas of the culinary industry, including managing a gourmet food truck and resort restaurants, owning restaurants, developing restaurants, bar/lounge design concepts, baking and pastries. Chef Pete went on to become a Chef de Cuisine at the young age of 22 at Restaurant Medure in Ponte Vedra Beach Florida. At a Four Diamond Restaurant he was the youngest African-American chef ever to run a Four-star restaurant in the state of Florida at that time. Now with over 22 years of professional experience Chef Smith has directed many areas of Food & Beverage Divisions at the Forbes Five-Star level. His first passion of cooking is complemented by his experience which spans across the entire spectrum of the culinary industry.