By Denver Louis, BlackVoices.com



Get ready for something different.

The Food Network is launching a ground-breaking new reality series this October with the premiere of 'The Chef Jeff Project'. 'The Chef Jeff Project' follows Chef Jeff Henderson, a former prison inmate turned successful executive chef, as he attempts to transform the lives of six struggling young adults through the power of food.

Chef Jeff has become one of the most inspirational chefs in the country after finding his passion for cooking while incarcerated for drugs, and subsequently turning his life around. In 2001, he made history in Las Vegas, when he became the first African-American named "Chef de Cuisine" at Caesars Palace. He eventually became an executive chef at several top restaurants including Café Bellagio, which he joined in 2004.

Jeff's extraordinary story, 'Cooked,' became a New York Times bestseller and is now being turned into a major motion picture by the team that made 'The Pursuit of Happyness.' Chef Jeff also launched his first cookbook, 'CHEF JEFF COOKS: In the Kitchen with America's Inspirational New Culinary Star' (Scribner). Jeff currently lives in Las Vegas with his wife and three children

'The Chef Jeff Project' premieres on Sunday, October 12th at 10PM ET.

What were your dreams before you ended up in prison?

I wanted to be successful and have all the finer things in life when I grew up; whether it was L.A. or San Diego. I come from a family where my father wasn't there when I was young, growing up, or even as an adult. My mother raised my sister and I, and I always wanted to see her do better. I wanted her to get out of that apartment complex and get that big house with the swimming pool and the big tree with the big lawn and things like that.

So how long were you in before you got into cooking?

I would probably say a couple of years. I was very rebellious when I first went in. I was very angry and felt I was a victim and blamed everyone but myself. It didn't change until I accepted responsibility. Brothers in the system sat me down and gave me my first book in there. I knew how to read a little bit, but the first book I ever read was in there. It was the first time I ever read the newspaper, the first time I ever watched '60 Minutes,' '20/20' and been around intellectual brothers. They were spitting a lot of knowledge and at the end of the day I realized that I deserved to be in there because I and many other African- American men, we influence generations of people selling that poison.

'Brothers in the system sat me down and gave me my first book in there. I knew how to read a little bit, but the first book I ever read was in there.'

At what point did you realize that cooking was going to be your salvation?

I got fired on my first job in prison and got put in the kitchen. The brothers in there were running the kitchen; they had all the leftover chicken, casserole and meat and I'm thinking that this is the spot to be in. I never dreamed of cooking. A couple of guys in prison, Big Roy and Friendly Womack, pulled me to the side and said youngster come on, we gonna teach you this game. I got good at it very fast because I was very focused and very tenacious. At that time I began to realize that maybe I can be good at this and I started getting praised for my food. And it feels good to be praised for something positive in life. And just like that a chef was born, that's how the whole cooking thing became a manifestation.

Where did the idea for a show come from?

Several years ago, I started my own catering company, Posh Urban Cuisine in Los Angeles and I always hired youngsters who had a passion for cooking out of Job Corp, Pro Start and local high school students and young people out of L.A. Trade Tech. So I always wanted to expose these youngsters to a different side of the food world because I wanted them to grow beyond cooking soul food. In order to make money and rise in the chef world, you need to know how to make international cuisine, Italian, French, Mediterranean. So I took these youngsters into Beverly Hills into these multimillion dollar establishments and estates and took them around L.A.'s upper echelon of black celebrity's and they were blown away. When they went back to the hood, I wanted them to feel like hey maybe I really can make it in this business.

How were the show's participants chosen?

There was a casting call in Los Angeles and they went to Job Corps, youth organizations, and juvenile probation facilities. They did an interview process and they brought in probably over 150 kids and they chose six of them. I never met them until the first day of the filming. They wanted me not to meet them because they didn't want me to be biased by getting to know them ahead of time. A lot of reality shows are scripted, but there's no script here. I wouldn't allow it. I wouldn't allow any elimination or pitting against each other. They all get a great surprise at the end and everyone wins at the end of the day. These kids have young self esteems and the show is about praise. No one hugs these kids and gives them encouragement or tells them that they're smart. So what you don't have a GED or you don't know 12 x 12. It doesn't mean that you can't be successful. My whole thing is to build them up with some tough love.

Were you worried that something would go wrong given the fact that you had such a young, inexperienced group and that you were catering actual events?

One thing about me is that failure has never been an option. I have a lot of tenacity and I've been able to accumulate a lot of success because of my work ethic. When I picked the catering events, I made sure I didn't make them too big where if we crashed, we wouldn't be able to produce. I knew if I were to lose one or two of the young people, I would still be able to pull it off with what I had. This group never really worried me too much. There were a few times they did, but as I pumped them up, and built them up, failure did not become an option for them either. I got really proud of them when we were done. I didn't train them prior to the show, everything that they learned from me was done there, on camera.

At what point did you really sit back and think what your success could be?

Twenty-something years ago, I could have never dreamed of being where I am. I was a hustler and a dealer and that was my life. I didn't live for the future, I was living for the moment. Since I've seen success, I know I'm still not there yet. The television show has been a dream for me, the movie has been a dream, but at the end of the day, it's going to be the impact that I have on young black males in our community. I think it's something that I will be doing the rest of my life. Giving back to them empowers me and brings me solidarity and a sense of peace. That's my success, when I'm able to inspire a youngster off the street and they start to believe in themselves and think that they can be anything other than a thug or dope dealer.

'The television show has been a dream for me, the movie has been a dream, but at the end of the day, it's going to be the impact that I have on young black males in our community.'