Hearty, Healthy and Balanced Meals: Darrell Cammon’s Story

To say that Darrell Cammon has worked in a bunch of kitchens would be an understatement.  After leaving his old career as a structural engineer, Cammon became an Executive Chef,  studying at the Culinary Institute of America in New York.In the following years, he worked for multiple large companies such as Hilton and the Compass Group. In these jobs he traveled around the company, opening, inspecting, managing and running dozens of kitchens, often all at the same time.  Even now, as the new Executive Chef at Atlanta Detox Center and Atlanta Center for Mental Health, Cammon is running three other Hilton Hotel kitchens in the Atlanta area. Although he works hard, he hardly considers what he does work. “I’m a former structural engineer. That was work,” Cammon said. “I enjoy playing with food. I enjoy cooking. It’s not work or a job, it’s like a playground.” Cammon began rolling out the meals at ADC/AMCH in the beginning of April .He hopes to focus on providing “hearty and healthy”meals for the clients.  “For this population, I can tell many of them are depleted in minerals, protein, carbohydrates,” he said. “So yesterday I rolled out omelettes of choice with crusty cut potatoes. We’re not using  pre-packaged or frozen foods. I use the Mediterranean-style food pyramid.” As a long-time vegetarian, nutritional food has been an important part of Cammon’s life. The Mediterranean-style food pyramid, he explains, consists of “seafood, poultry, legumes, beans, fresh salads, salad greens not iceberg lettuce, gourds, zucchini, squash, 17-grain bread, fresh fruit cut in the morning.” And the list went on.  “Food that’s not denatured.”  Cammon said that in addition to providing clients with fresh food, he hopes to be able to connect on another level.  “I’m in recovery myself, so I want to give back and be of service. I’m here to be with people I have a shared experience with,” he said. Although many clients come into the facility under a dark shadow, he added, there is light on the other end. “I’ve been in detox, and therapy. I’ve been there where these clients are at,” Cammon said. “Life is still the same out there under the dark cloud. I see it coming in so I don’t have to go back.” Although Cammon is in long-term recovery, he experienced a relapse close to four years ago. He said, however, that the stress of being in a kitchen was not what brought him down. “You have to have tough skin in this profession. You have to be focused. I’ve seen a great deal of chefs fall victim to alcoholism and substance use,” Cammon said. “My relapse and substance choice, which was heroin, started when I stopped working on my program. But this is a stress-free environment. I can work my program here, and I work my program after I leave here.”