The Road to Culinary: A Student's Passion for People

As a young culinary student, Lucas Woods is most passionate about the people he cooks for. While he won’t remember what specific recipes he used for an event, he never forgets the kind words of his patrons. “My favorite part about cooking is getting to put the plate down in front of someone,” Woods explained. But behind the 20-year-old chef, there is a surprisingly long road that’s led him here.

At fourteen, Woods began working in tobacco fields near his hometown, Agawam, Massachusetts. He spent ten-hour days trailing his Jamaican coworker who’d cut the plants for Woods to then pick up and hand off. They were harvesting tobacco for leaf-wrapped cigars, the same ones his boss would smoke all day long. 

The crew was made up of Latin American adults who’d labor through the summers and make enough money to support them back home in the off-season. They’d frequently bring their children to work, “It was the most humiliating feeling in the world to see these kids younger than me working so much harder and better than me.” But it was grueling for everyone in that summer heat, and it was the only job Woods could find that would pay him under the table without needing to fill out lots of paperwork. After two summers of picking up tobacco, he jumped to the next job he could find.

Woods became a versatile employee at a local independent living home for the elderly. From serving dishes to cleaning them up, and doing every other job the kitchen had to offer - this now sixteen-year-old got his first experience working with food. “It wasn’t very creative,” Woods cautioned, “we worked with a lot of packaged foods.” But it gave him the idea that maybe he could do something like this for a living. While it was painful to watch his regular patrons pass away, and he learned quickly not to get too attached, Woods worked hard in the kitchen, bringing a clean and delightful culinary experience to people in their final years. 

When it was time to graduate high school, he knew he wanted to attend Johnson and Wales for culinary school. But, with a hefty price tag, the 18-year-old decided to study for two years at a community college to lower any possible debts and be well-positioned for a spot in Providence. And when he finally got there, he was able to explore cooking in a new, bright, and delicious light. Following recipes began to feel innate to him.

After securing an internship through school, Woods started working in the kitchen at an established restaurant. While this opportunity provided a healthy, real-life experience, it also revealed the darker side of the industry when his coworker was found overdosing on the job. Woods saw the backline cook, purple and unconscious with powder on his nose. As everyone else was overwhelmed with the emergency, Woods was left with one coworker to manage the entire kitchen and fill the tickets that were still coming in. “There’s places where people are fucked up on something all the time. This one guy was always on heroin, they found some in the bathroom once and had to shut down the place for a day.” Drug use is a disturbing and often detrimental part of the food industry. This is no secret to Woods, as he explained that, “it’s worse at the back of the house.” He left the restaurant two weeks later.

Lucas Woods is a stoic person who answers questions in a humble voice. He doesn’t seem to understand his experiences as intense or unusual until forced to look at them from the perspective of a student journalist. After asking if his time watching the elderly pass or his coworker overdose changed his larger feelings on death, Woods reflected saying, “Death is not the same to me. It’s just the way that it goes.” This acknowledgment and acceptance carries into his professional life, as he finds the culinary field to often be unprofitable and even unenjoyable at times. And despite this, he’s confident in his passion for delighting people with well-made food; He knows you undoubtedly have to love the job to do it. “People are always gonna want to eat, but you don’t know who will always want to cook.” Woods will forever hold the meals he makes and the people he cooks for close to his heart.