Charlotte chef teaches kids to cook and encourages entrepreneurship

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Charlotte has a big appetite, and Chef Andarrio Johnson has the receipts to prove it.

“Fried shrimp, collard greens,” he said in the kitchen, looking at the pending orders at the Cuzzo’s Cuisine on North Tryon Street. “Wings and lobster mac. Oh, see y’all brought in the business, man, y’all brought in business, ha-ha!”

Quality ingredients aren’t enough. His jovial demeanor jumps out right away.

“If you ain’t cooking with love, you ain’t cookin’! ha-ha,” he said, laughing and smiling as he whipped up lunch.

“We got that rollin’ right now, I’m about to show you a little shrimp and grits,” says Chef Johnson, walking us through his process. “This is exactly how we serve it.”

After 30 years in the business, he’s all the wiser.

“Whatever you do just find out your purpose in life, man. I found out my purpose,” says Johnson, who owns two Cuzzo’s brick-and-mortar locations (a third is closed indefinitely due to a fire) and a couple of food trucks.

He wants to show the community that there’s power in having that purpose.

“Welcome back!” he said this month, high-fiving a young woman.

His free “Kickin’ it in the Kitchen” classes expose young people to an art form.

“It’s the same thing, we just paint the picture of food,” Johnson said to the group of students.

During the pandemic, Chef Johnson focused on feeding kids. Now, through his nonprofit Culinary Connections, he helps them feed themselves.

“Watch your fingers, watch your fingers. Right down the middle,” says Johnson, chopping up zucchini to go with the chicken they’re cooking in this class. “Half-moon sizes, keep your knife on the board.”

“When I get older, I won’t have my sister to cook for me so I need to learn,” student Saira Maliki said.

“I’m going to teach them a life skill,” Johnson says. “I want to try to reach them real young and see if [the culinary industry] might be a path they want to take.”

With his nonprofit, Chef Johnson hopes to put more skills on their plate. For example, how to be an entrepreneur, which is something at times he’s learned the hard way.

As a business owner, a trial by fire can be devastating.

“Just learn from my mistakes, man,” Johnson said, reflecting on a recent example of a hurdle he didn’t see coming.

In May of 2023, an electrical fire ripped through his west Charlotte Cuzzo’s Cuisine location. It’s still closed indefinitely because it doesn’t have the money for repairs. 

It pains him to say he didn’t read his insurance policy thoroughly enough before the fire.

“I’m thinking I’m covered all these years,” Johnson told Queen City News. “And I didn’t know that they didn’t cover me because I didn’t have sprinkler systems in the building. So, they didn’t tell me that, but it was written in the policy.”

Chef Johnson urges business owners to read their insurance policies carefully or get help from an attorney to understand what’s covered.

He wants to expand his classes into a camp or a school that would also teach entrepreneurship. What he lost in the fire doesn’t take away from the pride in what he built.

Culinary Connections is his chance to invest in the next generation.

“Whatever your plan is, whatever you’re trying to do, just stick with it, don’t give up,” said Johnson.

“Thank you for encouraging other kids how to cook and be a good man to the community,” student Rickie Jones says.

“Now we cookin’!” Chef Johnson said in class, with chicken sizzling in his pan.

“Food opens up a lot of doors for you,” he reflected.

At the end of the class, the most satisfying part is right in front of them.

“You made [the dish], you made it,” Johnson said to the kids.

“It tastes good,” a boy reacted.

“You like it? First time having that?” says Johnson

The chef is known for his lobster mac and cheese.

But his potentially biggest impact has nothing to do with his menu, teaching students skills that they can lean on for life.