Culinary instructor, MBA, financier, jazz musician, comedian, chef, business owner, soccer mom, oyster aficionado … is there anything this woman can’t do? LaTisha Dismuke-Belmont wears a lot of hats and is truly a modern-day Renaissance woman.
LaTisha worked in banking and finance for 20 years. “I have an MBA with a concentration in marketing,” she explains, but always had a love for food and was catering as a side hustle. “People kept asking me to come back and always enjoyed my food.” However, after COVID hit, her banking career ended. “COVID was really the parachute to do culinary full time and try out my own business. So, I decided to bet on myself,” she said. Her pivot to focusing on food surely paid off.
For the past four years, LaTisha has been Cape Henlopen High School’s culinary instructor. “In the classroom I go by Chef T, and they call me Chef Jazzy for extra credit,” she jokes.
A nod to her business, A Taste of Jazz, where she offers custom services as a private chef, catering, meal prep and entertainment.
“Typically after dining I play jazz music, but I do stand-up comedy as well.”
Chef T started playing the saxophone in sixth grade and landed herself a college academic and music scholarship to Wilberforce University in Ohio.
“Music is definitely one of my passions, and I love incorporating that into a jazzy dining experience to please the palate and engage
the senses.”
All booking is done through her website, where she can accommodate a small intimate dinner party up to a large 450-guest event or wedding.
“For larger parties, I bring on my students or former students as sous chefs. It gives them the full real-life experience of the hospitality industry,” she says.
Chef T also heads up the ProStart Culinary Competition, a high school competition over the winter months (think Top Chef cooking competition vibes) that focuses on restaurant management and culinary arts. Winners from state-level competitions advance to the National ProStart Invitational to compete for generous college scholarships.
“It’s four kids, two burners and they have to make an appetizer, entrée and dessert, preparing two plates of each for judging, and they have up to $125 to spend,” she explains.
Under her tutelage, Cape Henlopen High School has earned top-three finishes in the state-level restaurant management and culinary competitions, and this year’s management team landed first place in Delaware and represented Delaware at nationals.
“Students have the opportunity to earn scholarship money, do recipe calculations, costing of products, cooking, front of the house and back of the house … it’s a great experience.”
Chef T explains that she teaches her students to take pride in their own work.
“I tell them … bring your full self every day to everything you do. Also, love what you do; play with purpose to maximize your potential,” she smiles.
Check her out at tastenjazz.com.
