Meet Ka’vaughn Crawley of Kool Vybz in Downtown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ka’vaughn Crawley.

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Ka’vaughn. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started working in the hospitality industry over ten years ago. When I started working in the hospitality industry, it was at a time, I had just found out about my status in this country. I wasn’t born in America and I had no idea that I was here illegally. But I was on my own so I had to find a way to provide for myself. My first restaurant job wasn’t in the kitchen. I was actually a busboy at a casual dining restaurant in Naples, Florida. But after a year of doing that. I knew that I didn’t want to busing tables as a career and being a server wasn’t too appealing to me.

When I finally got my green card, I began working at a retirement home as a dishwasher. I was busing tables at night and washing dishes in the morning. When finally a chef came up to me one day and said, you know you seem like you have a good work ethic. Why don’t you try cooking? It was funny to me because my mother was just telling me how I should pick up a trade since college just didn’t see myself going to college anytime soon. Even though I didn’t start cooking at a high-end restaurant. I took the prep skills I had learned from Chef Pamela Jones in that retirement home and took off.

As time progressed, my desire to learn more led me into a lot of different kitchens. I picked up a lot of valuable lessons from those turn and burn restaurants I worked in. I never went to culinary school so I took it upon myself to learn every station in the kitchen as a line cook. But when that got boring, I learned I took it upon myself to learn the other important parts of the kitchen that we don’t often talk about. I wanted to learn how to cut meat so I became a butcher for a few months. I wanted to learn to make soups and stocks so I became a saucier as well. I never wanted to labeled as a chef who could only cook burgers and fries so I challenged myself by working in a lot of different kitchens with a lot of different types of cuisines. With all that being said, I feel I got culinary degree without ever stepping inside a culinary school.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Being an entrepreneur is never a smooth road. I’ve had a few trials and tribulations along the way. The most challenging one was deciding on what direction I wanted to push my food. I have a lot of fine dine experience but I love street food as I progressed in my career though I started seeing the benefits of a more nutritious diet. I understand that most people eat with our eyes first, though and generally, most people just eat what they want they don’t care what is in it. So I tackled this problem by creating food that looks like it came out of a fine dining restaurant, packs enough flavor like your eating ceviche in Mexico, but nutritious enough you can still wear those swim trunks you bought five years ago.

Please tell us more about your work. What do you do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
The name of my business is Kool Vybz. I named it Kool Vybz because it is a common term we use in the Bahamas. You have a good day, “Everything Kool”… How’s your life, “Everything Kool.” My name is Ka’Vaughn so I took Ka.’

Vaughn made it into KV, which was a childhood nickname and since I’ve been told I have a pretty calm demeanor about myself, I named it “Kool Vybz.” I run a personal chef/small catering company. You have a hot date, your having a group of friends over but don’t feel like cooking or you may be having a pool party. I’m your man I do it all. What sets me apart from others is my food! Duh! My food packs a punch that no one in Denver has had, whether it’s my Bahamian baked mac and cheese or Caribbean jackfruit tacos. I’m here to please everyone.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I have only one plan for the future and that’s to become one of the best chefs in Denver. I’d like to know for my work before anyone knows the man behind the plate.

Image Credit:
Brandon McKain-Miller

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