The Fate of A FareStart Student
hard time, ham and a handlebar mustache
BY CHRIS S. NISHIWAKI
PHOTOS BY LARA FERRONI

Joey Brewer lives by the four-letter word. An “F” word. It’s ingrained in him, literally. The chef and owner of West Seattle’s Swinery has “FATE” tattooed on the back of his neck. He says it’s his modus operandi.

For much of his life, his fate was a cursed one. But just like his tattoo, the agony is behind him. Earlier this year he came full circle, becoming the first FareStart graduate to return to the culinary job training academy as its Guest Chef and instructor.

His framed mug shot now hangs on the FareStart dining room wall along with the photos of famed chefs Thierry Rautureau of Rover’s and Luc, Jerry Traunfeld of Poppy, Wayne Johnson of Andaluca and many others as local chefs who have been invited to cook and teach at FareStart. Before last February’s dinner, Brewer’s mug shot was of the police archives variety. Brewer, 35, estimates he has spent up to seven years in and out of prison, for charges ranging from assault to narcotics possession and distribution. At one point, Brewer said he was one of dozens of drug dealers in Arizona charged in former Gambino Family underboss Sammy “The Bull” Gravano’s grand jury indictment for drug trafficking. “It’s been such a full circle where I’ve come from to where I am now,” Brewer said. “A lot has taken place in my life and not all of it is good.”

Brewer was born in Seattle and moved to New York when he was six years old with his mother and stepfather, who is a native of New York. His first run-in with the law was as a 16-year-old in New York, when he was detained for lighting fireworks. The presiding judge sentenced him to community service with the caveat that he would sentence him to jail time if he committed another crime. “I didn’t know the severity of what I had just done,” Brewer recalls. About two years later Brewer was arrested and charged with assault. In a twist of fate he faced the same judge. This time the judge was not as forgiving.

Brewer recalls the judge asking rhetorically, “What did I tell you? If I see you in my courtroom again you are going to spend time behind bars.” Brewer was sentenced to nine months in jail and thus began the odyssey that was Brewer’s life of crime. He has done time in New York, Arizona and Washington.

When he graduated from high school in New York, he moved back to Seattle seeking a fresh start. “I decided to fly the coop, see what was out there,” Brewer recalls. He would move from Seattle to Arizona and back to New York before finally settling in Seattle, but trouble followed him at every stop. Along the way he worked in restaurants, dealing and using drugs in the interim. He became addicted to methamphetamines and heroin. He worked in places as refined as The Salish Lodge and as casual as the Denny’s in North Bend, cooking, bussing and waiting tables. “Back then I did it for a paycheck, not for passion,” he said. The quick cash he made on tips waiting tables was spent quicker on drugs.

By 2007 he was fed up with crime and was seeking stability in his life. At the urging of his girlfriend of the time and the suggestion of her co-worker, Rob Nyberg, he enrolled in FareStart’s life skills training, job training and job placement program for homeless adults. Brewer said he is a better person and chef because of his FareStart training. He has been clean for four years now. He only indulges in coffee and cigarettes.

“FareStart taught me to be honest with myself. Be accountable,” Brewer said. “I was very irresponsible prior to this. I knew I screwed up. I accept my fate. I can own up to it. Before FareStart I thought, ‘I’m not going to culinary school. I know how to cook.’ I knew how to throw ingredients together and make them taste good but I didn’t know the fundamentals. Knife work is a specialty. FareStart helped me hone those skills. It helped me be more aware of what I’m eating and where it’s coming from.”

_{The first course of Joey Brewer's Guest Chef dinner at Farestart.}

It was Nyberg who presented him with his diploma on graduation night at FareStart in 2007. Upon graduating from FareStart, Brewer was hired as a line cook at the 5 Spot, the Queen Anne Hill restaurant owned by Chow Foods.
Anthony Hubbard, executive chef of the Chow Foods empire that also includes Endolyne Joe’s in West Seattle and High Life in Ballard, is a supporter of FareStart.

“I always interview cooks coming out of FareStart,” said Hubbard, who has contributed to building the kitchen at their previous location on 2nd Avenue and has cooked at several of their events. “It’s a good program. We are talking about people who are taking back their lives. In a lot of ways FareStart graduates are more serious about their cooking careers than graduates fresh out of culinary school, because they have more to lose.”

Shortly after starting at the 5 Spot, Brewer had to do time one last time for a parole violation. He spent eight months of a year-long sentence in a facility. Hubbard and Natalie Divergelis, head chef at the 5 Spot, promised Brewer he would have his job back once he was released. Upon his release from prison, a sheepish Brewer called the 5 Spot wondering if he would be able to work for them again. His boss answered the phone and responded with a swift, “You are on the schedule for tomorrow.”

Hubbard and Divergelis stuck to their commitment to Brewer, a commitment that has paid off. He finished the balance of the sentence on work release. “The reason he got his job back is he had proven himself,” Hubbard said. “He was always coming in on his days off. He was always covering shifts for others. He was a monster on the line.” He would eventually be promoted to supervisor, working at the 5 Spot for about two years, altogether. He followed his time at the 5 Spot with a stint at the original JaK’s in West Seattle eventually leaving to focus his career on his passion for butchering and working with whole animals.

He walked north on California Avenue SW in search of his next job. Brewer walked into The Swinery in April of 2010 through the back door off the alley at the West Seattle deli and house of ham. “Can you put me in touch with the owner?” Brewer recalls asking Gabriel Claycamp, who greeted him at the back door. “I really want to get into butchering.” Claycamp was the owner and hired him immediately, recognizing Brewer’s FareStart credentials. Three months later Claycamp was out as owner and was replaced by Brewer. Brewer reasoned with principal owner James Dillon for a stake of the business.

“I can be an employee anywhere,” Brewer said. “If I have a piece of the pie [ownership] I’ll put every ounce of my life in it. [Dillon] opened his door to me and gave me full reins of the company.” Accounting for “sweat” equity, Dillon conceded a fraction of the ownership to Brewer. During the transition, Brewer worked with Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez, late of Harvest Vine and Txori, on a consulting basis. Jimenez de Jimenez created procedures and built relationships with suppliers before he left for another consulting job in Thailand.

“His parting words were, ‘focus,’” Brewer recalls of the handlebar mustachioed chef.

About the mustache, Brewer has adopted Jimenez de Jimenez’ trademark facial hair. Brewer has paid his debt to society but apparently owes Jimenez de Jimenez. “He owes me for copying my mustache,” Jimenez de Jimenez quipped.

For Brewer it’s a fresh look and FareStart was a fresh start. It is fate. 

Chris Nishiwaki a Mercer Island-based freelance writer with nearly 20 years of experience in journalism. He has appeared in Gourmet, Seattle Metropolitan, Pacific Northwest Magazine, Seattle Homes & Lifestyles and many other publications.

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