Country Boy Goes Culinary Booker took his cooking to the next level when he enrolled in culinary school. He got permission from his parents to turn down a college footballscholarship and attend Johnson & Wales College in Charleston, South Carolina -unheard of at the time for a 200lb. talented, athletic Black boy in the South. Although his neighbors and schoolmates disapproved of his impending career choice, his parents were unwavering in their support.