Chef David Stample

It is rare to meet someone as selfless and dedicated to helping others as Chef David Stample. It is even harder to believe how much he has accomplished at just 25 years of age.

As Culinary Director of CREaM (Culinary-Related Entertainment and Marketing), Stample was responsible for coordinating and ensuring the success of three of Rachael Ray’s signature Burger Bash events and cooking up rave-worthy eats for Miami’s hippest party, Ultra Music Festival.

He’s wowed celebrities with his calling-card cuisine – a fusion of Southern soul-food with a spicy Caribbean flavor. These are traits he picked up from watching his family with Caribbean roots create a wide range of exotic dishes. As a personal and private chef; he has catered to South Florida’s elite at the prestigious Coral Ridge Country Club; and has passed on his wealth of knowledge to aspiring chefs as a passionate instructor.

But Stample’s most impressive career achievement has been the impact he is having on the at-risk youths he teaches at EdVenture Charter School in Lantana, Florida. Chef Stample teaches troubled teens and young adults how to be creative and innovative while taking ownership of their lives. He makes them feel proud of their work, while ensuring that they are responsible and accountable in everything they do.

Chef Stample knows first hand what it’s like to overcome extreme adversity. As a child growing up in South Florida, he was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness that required open-heart surgery when he was only five years old. He is truly a survivor and this “never say die” attitude remained with him through his own tumultuous teenage years. The unconditional love and support from his family has been the key ingredient which enabled him to focus on cultivating a strong and unwavering work ethic as well as a fiery passion for gourmet cooking.

While attending the Sheridan Technical Center’s culinary arts program, Stample found a mentor in the late Chef Odis Herring, a detail-oriented leader who instilled a sense of pride in putting 100% into everything one does – especially volunteer work. He now honors Herring’s legacy by devoting his time to bettering the lives of underprivileged kids. The relationships he has developed with these students are deep and nurturing.

Chef Stample visualizes himself continuing on this path and plans to make every effort to help as many young people as he can, especially those who find themselves in difficult situations.