“I was raised in the foster care system and the perception is that we go from welfare to welfare,” Long said. “I hated everything about welfare. I never liked the welfare system or anything about it, so when I had the opportunity to step away at 18, I did.
“I was in D.C. at the height of the gun thing where people were getting shot left and right,” he said. “My last foster mother had the foresight to move me from D.C. schools because I was in a gang, fighting every day. And then I actually found a passion that I liked and could apply myself to.
“I knew instantaneously that this restaurant thing was something I was really passionate about and what I wanted to do. I knew what I wanted to do with my career,” he said.
Right out of high school, Long went to the Washington Culinary Institute, finished in 1991 and quickly moved up the ranks.
Source: Washington Informer