Bunker Hill student cooks up inspiration for Future Chefs

PROFILE. At just 19 years old, Bunker Hill Community College student Erik Powers is already well on his way to gourmet greatness. In addition to his own culinary talent, he has the annual Future Chefs cooking competition to thank for that.

As a high schooler in Everett, Powers’ culinary arts teachers turned him on to Future Chefs, a local organization that provides scholarships, apprenticeships and mentoring to students interested in culinary careers.

“I was taking my culinary class my junior year in high school, and I wasn’t really serious about it,” says Powers. “Then, senior year, my teachers started asking me if I’d like to get in the competition. … That’s what really got me into culinary, and that’s how I got started.”

Powers wowed the judges with his Chicken Chaucer and walked away with a full scholarship to Bunker Hill’s culinary program. The busy foodie now also works with Chris Douglass, one of Boston’s top chefs, and owner of Icarus and Ashmont Grill.

Tonight, Powers gets the chance to pay it all forward when he delivers a speech to a new batch of Future Chefs competition winners at the annual awards dinner. His encouragement (and tasty appetizers) should assure this group of gourmands they’ve chosen the right path.

Powers’ voice holds enough energy to inspire even the frozen dinner crowd when he discusses what he loves most about the field: visiting the best restaurants, fine cheese and chocolate shops, and learning all there is to know about the ingredients he manipulates into delicacies.

“It’s better than reading and studying all the time,” he jokes. “I really can’t see myself being happy doing anything else.”

Future Chefs Annual Awards Dinner
Tonight, 7
To attend, parties must make a charitable donation
For more info, call 781-899-8311