Press Kit
Culinary Concepts AB
Culinary workforce development, built by a chef. We train hospitality teams, connect employers to untapped talent, and help culinary entrepreneurs grow, from our kitchens in Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia.
The ReportFact SheetWhat We DoFounderAwardsStory IdeasCompany DescriptionPhotos & LogosContact
New: The Culinary Workforce Report 2026
Back-of-house turnover is a supply problem, not a hiring problem.
The Culinary Workforce Report 2026 draws on eight years of kitchen-level workforce data and national industry benchmarks to explain why operators keep losing cooks, what that turnover really costs, and what it takes to build a stable culinary workforce. It is written for operators, educators and the people who shape workforce policy.
Sources for each figure are listed in the report.
Read the ReportFact Sheet
CCAB at a glance
What We Do
We are not recruiters. We are connectors.
Culinary Concepts AB builds the bridge between hospitality employers and the people who want a real career in the kitchen. We start by strengthening the teams operators already have, then connect them to talent they would not find on a job board.
Workforce Solutions
Training for employers' existing teams, in our kitchens or theirs, from rising stars ready to step up to the cooks operators can't afford to lose. When employers need to grow, we connect them directly to our pipeline of trained, job-ready cooks.
GO Cook
An intensive seven-week culinary training program with 130+ hours of hands-on kitchen time, ServSafe and National Restaurant Association Certified Cook credentials, and transferable college credit. Every graduate gets a job interview with an employer partner, and our mentoring continues after the program ends. Our programs reach people facing barriers to employment, including training inside correctional facilities.
Entrepreneur Empowerment Program
Business strategy, financial modeling and access to capital for culinary founders working to move their businesses from surviving to sustainable growth. Delivered with partners Bridging Virginia, Hatch and Capital One, with 56+ businesses completing the program.
Kitchen Operations Consulting
Hands-on consulting focused on kitchen operations and systems, drawing on decades of experience running professional kitchens.
Founder
Chef Antwon Brinson
Founder & President, Culinary Concepts AB
Chef Antwon Brinson is the Founder & President of Culinary Concepts AB and a chef advocate for the hospitality industry. He spent more than 20 years in hospitality, traveling and working in many types of kitchens across the country and abroad and leading professional kitchens as a chef, before turning his focus to workforce development. For nearly a decade he has served on the Virginia Career Works – Piedmont Region workforce board, and he also serves on Virginia's state workforce board, bringing culinary's missing voice into the workforce conversation. Brinson founded CCAB in 2018 to build career pathways into the kitchen and dependable talent pipelines for employers. He is president of the Charlottesville chapter of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association, received the 2025 Emerging Workforce Leader Award at the Virginia Talent Awards, and was featured on HBO Max's The Big Brunch with Dan Levy.
Why Antwon
A chef advocate for the hospitality industry, Antwon brings something rare to the workforce conversation: he has worked the kitchens and sat at the tables where workforce decisions are made.
Antwon can speak to
- Why kitchens keep losing cooks, and what back-of-house turnover really costs
- Training your existing team versus constantly rehiring
- Building culinary talent pipelines with employers, educators and community partners
- Opening kitchen careers to people facing barriers to employment
- What it takes for small food businesses to survive the early years
“Everyone loves to eat, but when it comes to how the industry builds its workforce, the people closest to the problem are the furthest from the conversation.”
Antwon Brinson, from the executive letter in The Culinary Workforce Report 2026
Awards & Recognition
Recognized for the work
As Seen In
Story Ideas
Stories we can help you tell
We can connect reporters with graduates, employer partners, entrepreneurs and our instructors.
The real cost of kitchen turnover
What operators lose every time a cook walks out, and why posting another job listing doesn't fix it.
Seven weeks to the line
Career changers and first-time cooks who earned industry credentials and landed kitchen jobs through GO Cook.
Operators who invest in their people
Hotels, clubs and restaurant groups that chose to train the team they have instead of constantly rehiring.
Second chances in the kitchen
Culinary training that opens doors for people facing barriers to employment, including returning citizens.
Small food businesses, built to last
Culinary entrepreneurs working through the early years with training, mentorship and access to capital.
The chef in the workforce conversation
Why culinary has been missing from workforce policy, and what changes when a chef has a seat at the table.
Company Description
CCAB in one paragraph
Copy-ready for the end of a story. Reporters often call this the boilerplate.
Culinary Concepts AB (CCAB) is a culinary workforce development organization working to build a stronger, more stable kitchen workforce for the hospitality industry nationwide. Based in Virginia, with training kitchens in Richmond and Charlottesville, CCAB trains employers' existing teams, prepares new cooks through its GO Cook program, connects operators to untapped talent pipelines, and helps culinary entrepreneurs build lasting businesses. Founded in 2018 by Chef Antwon Brinson, CCAB brings the kitchen's perspective to the national workforce conversation through its programs, partnerships and The Culinary Workforce Report.
Photos & Logos
Approved images
Free to use in coverage of Culinary Concepts AB and The Culinary Workforce Report with credit: Photo: Kori Price / Culinary Concepts AB.
Logos
Transparent PNGs. Use the dark logo on light backgrounds and the white logo on dark backgrounds.
Press Contact
Covering CCAB or the report?
For interviews, data questions and speaking requests, reach our team directly.