Darnell "SuperChef" Ferguson

Darnell “SuperChef” Ferguson has spent the better part of his life overcoming adversity, inspiring and helping others, all while challenging himself to be a better person each and every day.

While his accolades speak volumes, success hasn’t always come easy to Ferguson. Originally from Ohio, Ferguson’s love for cooking started from adolescence and would continue on as he graduated from Sullivan University in Kentucky with a degree in the Culinary Arts. However, after taking a wrong turn along his journey, Ferguson found himself on a self- destructive path, leaving him homeless, in and out of jail, and unemployed for nearly a year. Thanks to his faith, Ferguson used the time to reflect on his past and to reassess his life purpose.

A pivotal moment was when Ferguson remembered someone speaking about being a statistic and never recovering once you enter the system. He did not want to be another statistic and he knew the only way to get out of the system was to focus and to become serious about something he loved and that he could do well, which for him had always been cooking. To Ferguson, food can represent and change your life.

With relentless drive and newfound spirit, Ferguson’s best and brightest decision was to bring high-end fine dining to short-order cooking in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2012, he began a series of pop-up restaurants serving breakfast within existing restaurants that only served lunch and dinner. This innovative approach led him to open up his first SuperChefs restaurant in 2015. Ferguson’s unique style of “urban eclectic” cooking blends together traditional flavors in untraditional ways with a creative presentation.

The breakfast style restaurant is themed, designed and appropriately named after a superhero to represent the strong individuals we are as human beings and to acknowledge that everyone has the ability to be an everyday superhero. Unfortunately, just a few months into business, Ferguson faced yet another life-altering challenge when a fire broke out at SuperChefs that could not be controlled in time. The original SuperChefs was lost, but as he explains, “The difference between where I was at and where God wanted me to be was based on my ability to patiently suffer. I went through it knowing I could come out the other side.”

Soon after the restaurant burnt down, Ferguson received an outpour of interest from celebrity chefs and television producers requesting he share his story with the world. The opportunities allowed him to reopen SuperChefs and to share his gratitude for his blessings by continuously giving back to the community. Ferguson teaches kids, communities, and those in need how cooking can be a positive and creative outlet by employing teens, young adults, and those in need. He also serves on the board for the national non-profit, Blessings in a Backpack, where he provides paper bag lunches for kids on the weekends, as well as for the Louisville-based Children Shouldn’t Hunger. In April 2019, SuperChefs opened a second location in Alabama, called Superhero Chefs.