Chef Terrell “T” McMullen

Terrell “T” McMullen

Owner – Rell’s Kitchen / Cook – Crazy Uncle Mike’s 

“Every Chef that took a chance on me. I wouldn’t have gotten to this point in my life without the lessons learned from everyone I ever worked for”

Chef Terrell McMullen or Chef T as everyone in the industry calls him is well on his way of gaining a new name, “The Sauce Master”.  Hailing from Queens, NYC it’s no wonder where he gets his passion to accomplish what he has so far, and tackle what he has planned for the future.  Professionally cooking for the past 12 years he attended Johnson & Wales University as well as The N.Y. Culinary Academy.  But he didn’t wake up one day and decide at 18 he wanted to cook, it started a lot younger, “My great aunt got me into cooking when was 12.  It was just simple things like burgers and pasta, but I instantly feel in love with it”.  It may have started simple, but now he is a master of sauces and has his own sauce brand and business to prove it.  When asked what does being a chef means to him, he simply replied “For me it’s creativity, Passion, Joy, and Peace”.  Once you get to know him on a personal level you’ll understand that this answer describes how he carries himself in and out the kitchen.   

The journey to become a chef is never the same for any two individuals, and we all face different challenges.  Overall some of us have faced people who didn’t hold our profession as a highly respected one,  “It use to anger me on a real personal level.  I started my journey before the industry was as popular as it is today. Now it’s just gratifying”.  Being a chef today is highly respected, but don’t underestimate the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to get there.  When asked what chef he looks up to or who has influenced him he couldn’t pick just one, “Every chef that took a chance on me.  I wouldn’t have gotten to the point in my life without the lessons learned from everyone I ever worked for”.  Being able to learn something from each chef he’s worked with and apply it along his journey is one of the skills that has taken him so far already.  Another topic he is passionate about is making sure people understand the misconceptions about the industry, “People don’t always see the time, effort, and stress that goes into creating a dish, let alone a full menu.  Sometimes we make the final result look easier than it actually is”.  Basically just understand that it takes lots of work to make something look simple and taste amazing.  

As you might imagine owning your own business is hard work and takes long hours, but he also works at a restaurant while running his business.  Just like most chefs this means he pulls well over 60+ hours a week at the least so self care is very important.  Chef T has a remedy on how he stays stress free, “Jameson lol, I’ve always been athletic so I work out and play basketball”.  You have to keep yourself healthy because to reach your goals it takes hard work and he’s accomplished two big goals already.  “My first cook position, my head chef was 32.  When I found that out, I made it a personal goal to be one by 30 and I did it.  The second is starting my own business, which I’ve done as well”.  This is just the being of the his culinary journey and he has lots more to share with the world.  Here’s some words of advice from him to any aspiring young chefs in the making, “You have to love it, there are going to be times that this life will take everything and then some out of you.  You just really have to love it”.  

Please Follow Chef “T” On The Following Platforms:

Facebook- Rell’s Kitchen

Instagram – r.k_sauces

Website – Rkitchenonline.com

*Check Out His Site And Buy Sauce Below*