Brandon loved to cook from his boyhood in North Carolina and Virginia.  The family enjoyed cooking, with Mum creating the meals and Dad grilling.  Brandon gained real kitchen skills while he was still in high school.  At the age of 15, he started working in restaurants; sweeping floors, washing dishes, on the line, etc. At 20 years of age, Brandon became a student at the affiliated Le Cordon Bleu's Western Culinary Institute in Oregon. There he pursued his training and received his associate degree in Culinary Arts.

After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, Brandon applied for the position of junior chef at the Playboy Mansion.  The Mansion had eight full time chefs (24/7) and Brandon learned from them all.   He built his experience creating and overseeing production of four-course executive luncheons for up to 16 guests, or weekly buffet menus for 20-100 guests, or party menus for up to 200-1500 guests  - which happened at least twice monthly.  Brandon's weekly schedule included all shifts – morning, afternoon, evening and the graveyard shift!  Certainly, great training for a charter yacht chef!

He gained even more experience creating special menus and cooking Hugh Hefner's personal meals, as well as those for his girlfriends, guests, and other members of the house. Every weekend, Mr. Heffner held movie night for 20-75 guests. Friday night they generally ran older movies; Saturday night silent movies; and Sunday night first run movies, not necessarily in that order.

Brandon's other passion, besides cooking, is traveling. After leaving the Mansion, he backpacked through Central America, Hawaii and Alaska, gathering information on other cuisine and supplemented his income by working in Hawaii at John Paul Foods, a most unique eatery and the Restorante Orso in Anchorage.  He spent a few months in the Mediterranean then to Ft. Lauderdale where he took STCW95 Basic Safety Training. Recently he joined the luxury catamaran TRUE NORTH.

Brandon (whose talents seem unlimited) takes pleasure in preparing a variety of interesting dishes for his guests, inspired by his visit to The French Laundry,  a two-story stone building constructed in the late 1880’s, in Napa Valley. Before emerging as a restaurant in 1974 it was a brothel then a French steam laundry. In 1994 The French Laundry was nominated for the Best New Restaurant and awarded four stars. It seems that Brandon has reached the four star status … or is certainly well on his way to that goal. Since he doesn’t usually use recipes we have included one of his dinner menus below.

• Chilled Corn Bisque accented by a White Truffle scented Crostini finished with Chive Oil
• Broiled Wahoo ladled with Dill infused Beurre Noisette, showcased with Yellow Squash “Spaghetti”, Peppermint-Ginger laced Jasmine Rice, all laying in a stream of Yellow Sweet Pepper Coulis.
• Bitter-Sweet Chocolate Mousse refreshed with Tamarind-Pascilla reduction and Praline