Local chef and caterer Vincent Henderson has fed and planned events for thousands of students, hotel guests, luminaries, dignitaries and even a First Lady — at the White House.

A Mobile native, he now runs his own consulting firm for events and food service after working for the last few years at Bishop State Community College. Henderson came to my attention through the Berney/Fly Bed and Breakfast, a bright yellow Queen Anne cottage on Government Street between Ann and Broad Streets where they use him to handle large events.

Light soaks the walls of this well-restored cottage that looks to be the best place to stay in town. Sumptuous furniture, comfortable beds and large rooms improve the appeal. There is even an expansive pool area with hot tub outback. An enormous kitchen in back is where Henderson oversees the endless rounds of events held in the home.

I recently sat down with Henderson to talk about his beginning interest in cooking and how this developed into a career loaded with “firsts.” Henderson’s father owned the original Best Grill on Davis Avenue. In fact, when Henderson returned to Mobile to be the Director of Food Services at Bishop State, he recreated the current school-owned Best Grill venture. As one of 10 children, Henderson was expected to help out at the restaurant when he was not in school. In the days before air conditioning was omnipresent, and food and produce arrived fresh from the source, there was much work to be done.

“As a young child, on Saturday’s some of my brothers and sisters, we would sit down with a 100-pound box of shrimp. It would take us all day, outside, to wash and sort the shrimp into three sizes. We knew which ones to put aside for frying, for gumbo and other uses,” Henderson remembered.

The Best Grill was a blue-plate style place, with his mother making the desserts each day. He learned all the cooking basics there. But his father did not pay too well, so as a teenager Henderson got a job working after school at Mobile’s first Chinese Restaurant, The China Clipper.

Located at the Loop on Williams Street, Henderson started as a dishwasher, wanting to get out of this soon so he could cook. Manually washing all of those dishes in scalding water was not his life’s desire. Soon he was chopping and prepping all of the vegetables for the evening and by the time he left for college, he was waiting tables.

During holidays and summers in college he obtained a job at the Isle Dauphine Club on Dauphin Island, then in its heyday. In college he was studying, and received a degree in chemistry and math. But while serving as a waiter and then the head waiter, he spent his downtime learning the elements of fine cooking from the manager’s wife who ran the restaurant. In each of these experiences, he gained more knowledge of wines, cooking and food service. After chef’s training in Boston, he worked at the Harvard Club.

Eventually, he went on to create the menu and recipes for the T.P. Crockmeir’s chain.

“At the time, there was so such thing as spinach salad, people were not yet eating quiche,” said Henderson. “so I went out and spent time in California, learning what was new in American cooking to develop a concept that was on the edge, and it worked.”

So how did he end up serving his food at the White House? His friend Alexis Herman, former Secretary of Labor, called upon him to handle events for the Democratic National Committee when she worked there. He would take off work to plan and execute parties, luncheons and dinners that she was in charge of.

As she rose through the ranks, his opportunities got larger. He had the opportunity to run evens for the first Clinton secretary of labor, The Congressional Black Caucus and basketball star Dikembe Motombo. Once Herman became secretary of labor, Henderson began asking her for the opportunity to serve his food at the White House. Henderson became not only the first minority, but first caterer to serve inside the White House.

No one outside of the White House kitchen staff is allowed to cook in or use the White House kitchen facility. The luncheons that Henderson undertook were all political functions where the First Lady was hostess. He was given one large room, the Indian Treaty Room to use for assembly and no cooking was allowed.

Henderson rented heated trucks to keep his food warm until being served — but not before the Secret Service dogs sniffed it out. Everything had to be brought in. The only time he did “cook” was once when he brought in a hot plate to warm up some Maryland crab cakes and opened a window to let out the steam. The Secret Service bolted into the room just as he was finished with the last one — they let him serve the cakes but did allow that to happen again.

After the Democrats left power, so did Henderson. Now his talents are utilized here not only by the Bernie Fly Bed and Breakfast, but for numerous parties, teas and fancy dinners.

Café Royal

By publication time, the Café Royal, located at the corner of Dauphin and Royal Street in LoDa, should be serving continental breakfast, lunch and dinner. Café Royal is a venture of the same people who own Jerusalem Café in WeMo. In the morning, Barney’s Coffee and Tea will be served along with light breakfasts. At lunch the food will be the tasty Middle Eastern offerings as found at Jerusalem Café. Dinner is planned to be more continental and upscale in style.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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