The Hotel Culinary Arts & Tourism Institute hosted a cooking demonstration with the owner and operator of Rooted Rotisserie on Tuesday at HUM 214.

Chef Joseph Burton taught the room full of staff and some students how to make herb roasted chicken with herb roasted potatoes and steamed cabbage on the side. His restaurant made the Best of Baltimore Magazine this year after only being open for one year and five months.

“I really think that everything that’s done at the restaurant is intentional,” Burton said. “I really think about where I get my ingredients from, how we treat them, how we prepare and that tells you how everything ends up on the plate and ends up being a wonderful experience.”

Burton, who has worked with notable chefs from the Food Network like Gordon Ramsey and Giada De Laurentiis, is proud of the fact that he receives fresh deliveries of produce and chicken every day of the week. 

Donnisha Grant, the director of the HCAT Institute, designed this event to highlight chefs of color for Black History Month. 

Burton cites his grandmother, who was a Baltimore County principal for 41 years, as his biggest influence in the kitchen.

“I really just pulled from the flavor that I remember to be cooked in my household,” Burton said. “You know, like, those flavors kind of get lost, you know, once you go to culinary school and you become this big chef …  and I kind of realized that wasn’t where my heart was.”