Warren Brown, star of the Food Network’s show “Sugar Rush,” addressed a crowd of nearly 200 in the latest installment of Class Council’s “How Do I Become A.” series Wednesday night.
Brown graduated from GW Law School in 1998 and is the owner of two eateries in the D.C. area: the bakery CakeLove and a café called LoveCafe.
Brown, a self-proclaimed “foodie,” began his journey to his successful career in baking in childhood. He explained how he always had the desire to create something that people could share and enjoy together. Through the years he began cooking, and by the time he got to Brown University as an undergraduate, it was becoming more than a hobby.
“I found myself going to the college bookstore to buy cookbooks when I probably should have been reading (about) political science or something,” Brown said.
While at GW, Brown began noticing the unhealthiness of most students’ diets. He received money from the student government to teach cooking classes to the student body that he called “Gastronomy and the Law.”
In 2000, Brown left his job at the Department of Health and Human Services to live his dream and fulfill a mission to create the best cake in D.C. Even though he’s the boss of the kitchen – not a courtroom – Brown maintains that his law background contributes to his making career.
“Having a law degree helps me make a better recipe,” said Brown, explaining that both fields are all about balance.
On Brown’s Food Network show, he travels the country sharing the secrets of the dessert trade with viewers.
“It’s a nice little notch of validation for what I put myself through,” Brown said.
Although Brown has finally found his calling, he still remembers what it’s like to be confused and fresh out of college. “It’s inevitable that (after graduation) you feel lost at sea sort of,” said Brown.
But Brown has carved out his own niche at his U Street establishments. The readers of the Washington Post voted his bakeries into the number one slot of the 2005 Best Bets Readers’ Choice Awards, and he was even featured on Oprah.
