Justin Round - Chef, Designer, Photographer, Angler, Homebrewer, Bohemian, Dad.
My name is, Justin Round. I come from a small town in the south central part of Mississippi called Laurel. I was born to Cindy and Ricky in the summer of 1973 . . . it was June. I'm told I was a quiet, attentive baby with a heavy dose of curiosity. I come from a loving family, and I grew up fishing. I have a younger brother, his name is Barrett. Generally speaking, I'm well liked, and have many close friends . . . old and new.
I graduated from a small high school in 1991, and I went to Ole Miss for a degree. After two trips out west, and one trip to a JUCO, I wound up with a Bachelor's of Science in Hotel Restaurant Management. I had also developed a knack for working in busy kitchens. I started working in restaurants about halfway through my wily six year tenor at the University (yeah, homecoming), and I got pretty good at it too. By the end, I kinda wanted to cook professionally, but I wasn't sure. I really enjoyed my time working at Kalo's Tavern though. Palmer Adams, man that guy is good as gold.
I moved to Atlanta and tried my hand at selling vinyl siding and vinyl replacement window jobs to people in lower income neighborhoods for awhile. That is a whole set of very long, and truly absurdly preposterous stories. Let's just say I met some really awesome characters, but it didn't work out.
After I realized the hard sell wasn't for me, I hurriedly joined up with the first two kitchens that would hire me. My favorite you ask? The Vortex Bar and Grill, just down the street from the Fox Theater on Peachtree St. . . area code 404. If you're ever in the neighborhood do yourself a favor, go have a burger. It'll come to you from a fourteen foot grill. You won't get to see it, but trust me, it's there. I worked it.
The wackiest you ask? Agnes' and Muriel's was just about as zany of a place I've ever worked. From the trans-gendered hostesses, to the gangster kitchen crew, and all of the Barbie and Ken dolls in between . . . totally bizzare! I'll have to say, I learned a lot about food there, but I learned more about being busy. Working on a busy line is an art form. It's a dance . . . organized chaos; and it's not for the faint of heart, period. I've seen newbs faint on the line, cry for their mothers, urinate in garbage cans, vomit in floor drains, and straight up run for cover.
When I realized "I wasn't getting anywhere in life" (part 1), I called Johnson and Wales over in Charleston to see what culinary school was all about. It just so happened that reps from the school were leaving Atlanta the very next day. They had been in town for a recruiting conference. They came by and visited me at work on their way out of town. They pitched me right there in the dining room, and sold me. The chef of the Vortex deserves a great deal of my gratitude. His name is Mark Lynch, and he was a huge encouragement. Thank you, Mistah Lynch. I wish you great days.
I rang in 1999 in Atlanta, GA. It wasn't near as fun as it sounds. I was stuck at a pantry (salad/dessert) station, burning my fingers making ice cream cones for rich folks in a snobby Buckhead fusion restaurant. Screw that. I moved to Charleston the very next spring and enrolled in culinary school.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I blazed through culinary school in eighteen short months, and stayed in town another eighteen for good measure; but that is a whole bunch of stories in an of itself . . .hmm. It deserves it’s own page (or site). Let me say this though . . . lot's of music, lot's of laughs. Now I’ll just fast forward three awesome years to "I wasn't getting anywhere in life" (part 2).
After I ran out of places to work in Charleston, I moved back to Mississippi . . . to the coast this time. I found work at a ritzy casino in Biloxi. I met my homeboys Shannon Parish and Parker Voss working in that kitchen and it was on; lot’s of hard working, and hard drinking. I learned a lot at that shop . . .a whole lot. I'm so sorry Bobby, I miss you little buddy. Hang in there Dave. Fire ninety.
After fourteen months or so, I again realized that "I wasn't getting anywhere in life" (part 3). So I began putting my feelers out for places to possibly migrate. As I saw it, I had two choices. Move to Crested Butte, or Costa Rica. I had very close friends in each place at the time, and both were paradises in their own right. It was a major crossroad in my life, and after much scrutinous debate, I chose Colorado.
I moved to Crested Butte early in the summer of 2004, and fell in love twice; first with a girl, then with a fish. We spent two magical summers, and one Rockwellian winter in that quaint little hamlet. I worked for the Timberline Restaurant. My job title, coincidentally enough, was Rockstar. I loved that job. It was perfect. We made a lot of peoples' mouths happy. Tim, you're the man, hug Dar for me. I also got a chance to fish some of the greatest trout waters in the world. Man, I got that bug bad. Get it? What an amazing way to pass the time. Unfortunately, after the hurricane (Katrina), Whitney and I had to move home to help. We spent a long brutal year in the south that brought with it a laundry list of unpleasant events; but don't worry, I'll spare you.
Once everything had been taken care of in Mississippi, we moved back to our beloved Colorado in August 2006. This time we decided the Denver area would make more sense, and we moved to Lakewood. We stayed for four years. It was in Denver where I started working for Whole Foods Market.
I have been working in kitchens for fifteen years. I have been with this company for four. About three years ago I found myself at yet another crossroad. I either needed to start working more jobs, or go back to school. I made the obvious choice. I went back to school and studied web design and digital graphics. It's funny, because going into this, my computer skills were limited at best.
Put it this way, I was completely amazed with the whole copying and pasting between windows. I thought that was really neat. Also for me, the concept of file management was totally foreign, and the terminology . . . Greek. Despite my limitations, I managed to get up to speed in a very short amount of time, and finished my degree with a 3.85 cumulative GPA. Now I 'm designing this blog and I have three other websites. You can access all the sites from the links page. I also took some essential photography courses along the way, and got pretty handy with my fancy new camera(s). I just couldn't resist. All of the banner images on this site come from that very camera(s).
After I finished design school, and Whitney finished her Bachelor's; we had suddenly found ourselves at that place we all know so well by now (part 4). We decided we wanted to move back to the south to be closer to family and friends, we just didn't know where. After weighing all of our options, we decided Nashville was oue best bet, and we relocated there early this Fall. I still work for Whole Foods in Nashville, and we're expecting our first baby in March. It's going to be a boy.
As for this blog, it's meant to be a portfolio site for myself. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. Anyway, thanks for visiting and many happy blessings.
I graduated from a small high school in 1991, and I went to Ole Miss for a degree. After two trips out west, and one trip to a JUCO, I wound up with a Bachelor's of Science in Hotel Restaurant Management. I had also developed a knack for working in busy kitchens. I started working in restaurants about halfway through my wily six year tenor at the University (yeah, homecoming), and I got pretty good at it too. By the end, I kinda wanted to cook professionally, but I wasn't sure. I really enjoyed my time working at Kalo's Tavern though. Palmer Adams, man that guy is good as gold.
I moved to Atlanta and tried my hand at selling vinyl siding and vinyl replacement window jobs to people in lower income neighborhoods for awhile. That is a whole set of very long, and truly absurdly preposterous stories. Let's just say I met some really awesome characters, but it didn't work out.
After I realized the hard sell wasn't for me, I hurriedly joined up with the first two kitchens that would hire me. My favorite you ask? The Vortex Bar and Grill, just down the street from the Fox Theater on Peachtree St. . . area code 404. If you're ever in the neighborhood do yourself a favor, go have a burger. It'll come to you from a fourteen foot grill. You won't get to see it, but trust me, it's there. I worked it.
The wackiest you ask? Agnes' and Muriel's was just about as zany of a place I've ever worked. From the trans-gendered hostesses, to the gangster kitchen crew, and all of the Barbie and Ken dolls in between . . . totally bizzare! I'll have to say, I learned a lot about food there, but I learned more about being busy. Working on a busy line is an art form. It's a dance . . . organized chaos; and it's not for the faint of heart, period. I've seen newbs faint on the line, cry for their mothers, urinate in garbage cans, vomit in floor drains, and straight up run for cover.
When I realized "I wasn't getting anywhere in life" (part 1), I called Johnson and Wales over in Charleston to see what culinary school was all about. It just so happened that reps from the school were leaving Atlanta the very next day. They had been in town for a recruiting conference. They came by and visited me at work on their way out of town. They pitched me right there in the dining room, and sold me. The chef of the Vortex deserves a great deal of my gratitude. His name is Mark Lynch, and he was a huge encouragement. Thank you, Mistah Lynch. I wish you great days.
I rang in 1999 in Atlanta, GA. It wasn't near as fun as it sounds. I was stuck at a pantry (salad/dessert) station, burning my fingers making ice cream cones for rich folks in a snobby Buckhead fusion restaurant. Screw that. I moved to Charleston the very next spring and enrolled in culinary school.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I blazed through culinary school in eighteen short months, and stayed in town another eighteen for good measure; but that is a whole bunch of stories in an of itself . . .hmm. It deserves it’s own page (or site). Let me say this though . . . lot's of music, lot's of laughs. Now I’ll just fast forward three awesome years to "I wasn't getting anywhere in life" (part 2).
After I ran out of places to work in Charleston, I moved back to Mississippi . . . to the coast this time. I found work at a ritzy casino in Biloxi. I met my homeboys Shannon Parish and Parker Voss working in that kitchen and it was on; lot’s of hard working, and hard drinking. I learned a lot at that shop . . .a whole lot. I'm so sorry Bobby, I miss you little buddy. Hang in there Dave. Fire ninety.
After fourteen months or so, I again realized that "I wasn't getting anywhere in life" (part 3). So I began putting my feelers out for places to possibly migrate. As I saw it, I had two choices. Move to Crested Butte, or Costa Rica. I had very close friends in each place at the time, and both were paradises in their own right. It was a major crossroad in my life, and after much scrutinous debate, I chose Colorado.
I moved to Crested Butte early in the summer of 2004, and fell in love twice; first with a girl, then with a fish. We spent two magical summers, and one Rockwellian winter in that quaint little hamlet. I worked for the Timberline Restaurant. My job title, coincidentally enough, was Rockstar. I loved that job. It was perfect. We made a lot of peoples' mouths happy. Tim, you're the man, hug Dar for me. I also got a chance to fish some of the greatest trout waters in the world. Man, I got that bug bad. Get it? What an amazing way to pass the time. Unfortunately, after the hurricane (Katrina), Whitney and I had to move home to help. We spent a long brutal year in the south that brought with it a laundry list of unpleasant events; but don't worry, I'll spare you.
Once everything had been taken care of in Mississippi, we moved back to our beloved Colorado in August 2006. This time we decided the Denver area would make more sense, and we moved to Lakewood. We stayed for four years. It was in Denver where I started working for Whole Foods Market.
I have been working in kitchens for fifteen years. I have been with this company for four. About three years ago I found myself at yet another crossroad. I either needed to start working more jobs, or go back to school. I made the obvious choice. I went back to school and studied web design and digital graphics. It's funny, because going into this, my computer skills were limited at best.
Put it this way, I was completely amazed with the whole copying and pasting between windows. I thought that was really neat. Also for me, the concept of file management was totally foreign, and the terminology . . . Greek. Despite my limitations, I managed to get up to speed in a very short amount of time, and finished my degree with a 3.85 cumulative GPA. Now I 'm designing this blog and I have three other websites. You can access all the sites from the links page. I also took some essential photography courses along the way, and got pretty handy with my fancy new camera(s). I just couldn't resist. All of the banner images on this site come from that very camera(s).
After I finished design school, and Whitney finished her Bachelor's; we had suddenly found ourselves at that place we all know so well by now (part 4). We decided we wanted to move back to the south to be closer to family and friends, we just didn't know where. After weighing all of our options, we decided Nashville was oue best bet, and we relocated there early this Fall. I still work for Whole Foods in Nashville, and we're expecting our first baby in March. It's going to be a boy.
As for this blog, it's meant to be a portfolio site for myself. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. Anyway, thanks for visiting and many happy blessings.
