Shaqori Smith followed his passion for the arts becoming a Chef. Photo: Shaqori Smith

Shaqori Smith and his grandmother Hilda Smith, who he said, ignited his love for the arts and cooking. Photo: Shaqori Smith

Shaqori Smith has since gone on to pursue and complete Culinary and Pastry degrees from Valencia College in Florida. Photo: Shaqori Smith

Shaqori Smith believes Culinary Arts is art and the plate is a canvas. Photo: Shaqori Smith

Shaqori Smith has been part of the Disney Culinary Program since 2024. Photo: Shaqori Smith

Shaqori Smith advised others to choose a path and stick to it, even though it may be unconventional. Photo: Shaqori Smith

Shaqori Smith and his grandmother Hilda Smith. Photo: Shaqori Smith

“It definitely started from my grandmother Hilda Smith, she was a big part of it because growing up, she would cook a lot for basically the whole family and even feed individuals that just come in.”

From her, Smith would learn Puerto Rican food, other Caribbean dishes, Italian and American cuisine. “She taught me pasteles; it’s a Puerto Rican dish, she taught me peleau, baked chicken, fish and stuff like…It was just seeing that and seeing how she handled food and manoeuvred with food...which really helped to cultivate my interest in both culinary and pastry.”

True resilience 

He went to both the Primary and Secondary Divisions of St George’s School. From there, he started studying Culinary Arts at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) in 2017, but not long after, the devastating hurricanes, Irma and Maria, hit the VI. 

In 2018, he migrated to Orlando, Florida, enrolling in Valencia College’s Culinary Arts programme. 

Smith infused his passion for the kitchen with the rich experiences from his upbringing, seamlessly blending them into his cooking style- from his skilful use of fresh ingredients to his practice of adapting dishes to what’s in season, something he cherished and learned from Grandma Hilda. 

He said it was things like the "pot spoons of this and two pot spoons of sofrito", from Grandma Hilda's non-traditional measuring methods, that gave him a better grasp of tacking food in an “unconventional way” while still making it delicious and making what’s in season really shine. 

Big opportunities @ Valencia

Upon completion of his Culinary degree in 2023, Smith immediately began his Pastry degree and was offered a huge opportunity by a professor who had become a friend. 

The new position at the school was being offered to students to head its Catering and Events.

“I got to start baking more, get hands-on in the industry as far as how to handle catering events, how to handle managing, how to work with different people, and it was a really great opportunity.”

Smith was able to work around Central Florida and with various vendors, and even had the opportunity to work with Disney and Universal. This, he said, gave him a good foundation, building on his teamwork experiences. 

“They taught me so much,” he said.

The Disney Culinary Programme

Smith held the position until August 2024, when he graduated from his Pastry programme, leaving it vacant for another student to take over. 

Things didn’t stop there for the young chef, and after leaving Valencia College, upon the advice of another chef, he applied to the Disney Culinary Programme, which was open to students and new alumni of Valencia. He was successful, starting part-time in September 2024 and transitioning to full-time that December. 

“It's been really, really fun, really amazing, honestly, since I started," he said. 

At the time of our interview, Smith was in the middle of catering for one of four festivals, the Food and Wine Festival.

He went from cooking at school for 50 to 500 to now cooking for thousands.

“It's helped me to shift exactly how I work as far as efficiency,  how I look at ingredients, how I manage my time, how I manage how I work with people.”

While unable to divulge much, Smith revealed that he is working on his very own waffle for Disney. 

More than just culinary, it’s a love for the arts 

Asked if cooking is his passion, Smith said that it goes beyond cooking something and that it stemmed from Grandma Hilda, who he said was very artistic. She painted, crocheted, baked, coloured, and much more until the day she passed away, Smith added. 

“I guess it cultivated further into a lot of artistic stuff because I draw and I got an interest in painting, I play guitar, I played steelpan back home, I worked a little bit at GIS… I've done acting- one of the other degrees that I have is in Theatre Arts.”

His passion, therefore, he said, is the arts, and culinary and pastry is the field he landed in. In the kitchen, he gets to play and take so many skills and fundamentals from various aspects of the arts and incorporate them into a dish.

Smith himself is a work of art, with his mother's side of the family from St Thomas and his father's side from Tortola and Puerto Rico.

“So I think it's just I find I truly think of culinary arts as an art in itself…the plate is a canvas, it’s easy to say, I know, but the plate is literally like a canvas.”

The future

Smith says he sees becoming a business owner in his future, fitting not only for a chef but one who comes from a family of entrepreneurs. Now, he said, he is conducting research and thinking of what that business path looks like for him. 

He encouraged others to “pick a lane and stay in it”, especially now with young people facing so many challenges. 

This, he said, helped him when he moved to Orlando, as he was unsure of what his future held, especially in the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria and being only 17 years old. 

“It was just like I said, the desire, the passion that I had as far as the arts, as far as culinary arts, as far as pastry that guided me.”

He added that if the path is a little unconventional, "so be it".