Hot Plate Iron Chef | Meet the Chefs | Toran Davis

I met Toran Davis through Cancer Support Communities of Central Ohio, through Chef Thom Stevenson, who I was contracted to photograph. (How’s that for My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with a girl who saw… ) This dude is the real deal y’all. He’s kind, friendly, funny, and holy crap can he cook.

Hot Plate Iron Chef | Meet the Chefs | Toran Davis

We met last summer-ish (It still amazes me that after 30+ years on this earth how fast time really flies) and started cooking together, and it’s been real fun getting to watch him work.  Watching people do what they love, you get to watch how they think, and I am so wildly fascinated by that. It’s also like watching and studying how the person that bags your stuff at the grocery store, you’re getting to watch how thier brain works.

Anyhow.

As Liz and I talked, the idea of having Toran along side as a contestant formed, we reached out, he said yes. Insert happy dance here.  We had two chefs, Wild Goose Creative, Annie from Whole Foods Market, The Wild Path, and four judges. Hell yes.

Growing Up In Georgia

From southwest of DeKalb Georgia, playing football, at safety all four years at Southwest DeKalb.  Along side school, football, and family Davis donated his time and to the local Food bank and coaching youth football.

The Road to Columbus

Life after college lead to Ohio University in Athens (an hour and half-ish south of Columbus) to play Bobcat Football. While in Athens, Davis studied and majored in Hospitality Management with a minor in business, focusing in Hospitality and Tourism.  While there, Chef Thom and met, and clicked on that real cool chef level, that is not all that easy to come by.

It was there in the Cancer Support Communities kitchen that I met both Chef Thom and Toran.

Expression Through Cooking

Cooking, feeding, and entertaining people is nourishing, in the deepest of ways, and it’s the best way to share who you are. (Apparently kinda like watching someone organize groceries into bags) Davis does just that.

Flavor? In the best way.

Ask a chef what their favorite dish to make when they’re not working, and you generally get a muttering, as we try to work out what the answer may be, and usually ends up with “well I can narrow it down to a cuisine…”

Davis was the same.

His answers? Rustic Italian or Southern Cajun Creole. And he does them real well.

Wanna work with me? Email me. hello@cookeatexplore.com