Superior Seating Scholarship 2024 Winner Announcement

Congratulations to Lucas Woods from Johnson and Wales University, the winner of our Superior Seating Scholarship program! We are thrilled to support passionate individuals like Lucas as they embark on their journey in the restaurant industry. With over 40,000 satisfied restaurant customers, we understand the importance of nurturing the next generation of chefs and restaurant professionals. At Superior Seating, we take pride in being more than just a furniture supply store – we are a partner in creating spaces for success. Lucas, we wish you every success in your endeavors and want you to know we’re always here to support you and others striving to make their mark in this dynamic industry!

We invite you to read his inspiring essay, where he shares his unique insights and ideas for shaping the future of dining experiences. 

By Lucas Woods

My culinary passion stems from my family as they sparked my interest in culinary from a young age. Many of my early memories are of my family in the kitchen while I sat watching my great grandmother, grandmother and mother spend hours hand making tortellini in our kitchen.

I started working in food service when I was 15 working at a retirement home for the elderly called Quail Run Estates. I began as a server in the dining hall that ran meal service three times a day, and moved from server, to dish washer to prep cook throughout high school never thinking I would want this as a career choice. While working at the retirement home felt mundane as the food was incredibly bland and lackluster, I realized that the food I found plain still greatly impacted the life of the residents. To them it was important, a generic sloppy joe made from Sysco products being on the menu would make them reminisce on memories that a usually solemn and quiet resident would then happily share with me while I served them.

I was able to see the effects that food had on these residents that was so much more than filling their stomachs. If food that I found uninteresting could still bring people joy while serving their bodies nutritionally, I became excited at the prospect of what a well-made meal could make others feel. I wanted to be able to make people feel good and happy from food I made, like the feeling from a homemade meal but better. To do that I needed to learn, other than the nursing home I had no hands-on experience.

My uncle Gary, who encouraged me to go into the restaurant industry more than anyone else urged me to go to culinary school (Johnson & Wales University, Culinary Arts). He has been a chef for most of his life, working in kitchens and he always encouraged and inspired me ever since I was young when he would give cooking lessons to my brother and I. When I was near the end of high school, I was unsure what to do, only knowing that the little I did know how to cook made me happy. My uncle encouraged me to go to culinary school, as he emphasized the importance of understanding the basics of classical cooking methods. He bought me my first set of knives during my freshman year of college. I wish to carry on his passion in the industry and make people feel the way I do eating his food.

First, I attended Manchester Community College where I was an active member of their program, president of a club, did volunteer work and organized events. I worked through school, in restaurants and now at a catering company where I cook, shuck oysters, and bartend. I plan to work in fine dining after graduating from culinary school. I want to work my way up the ranks from commis all the way to chef de cuisine.

Lucas Woods LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-woods-/