HUNTSVILLE, Ala — At Chef Will the Palate, music, peppered with a passion to feed, is Chef Will's main ingredient.
Forrest Wilson, also known as Huntsville's Chef Will, isn't new to this. He began mixing records at an early age, about the same time he was mixing recipes.
"I've been spinning records, and I still spin records," said Chef Will. "I got a mixer right there [food truck]. In the kitchen is where I put my turn table to spin records for the people while they're waiting for food."
Chef Will started working in Italian kitchens when he was about 15 years old while in Connecticut. He says cooking in his mother's kitchen was his biggest inspiration.
He now creates his signature vegan and vegetarian dishes with a lot of the veggies picked from outside his food truck at Lowe Mill.
His food also stretches beyond Lowe Mill, to people who share the same passion he has for nutrition and Hip-Hop. Meet Birmingham-based Hip-hop group, Shaheed & DJ Supreme.
"Hip-Hop, born August 11th 1973. I was born August 10th, 1973. Hip-hop to me means this is something that I was destined to be a part of," said DJ Supreme.
"They didn't think it would last this long. Hip Hop is the pulse of the culture," said Shaheed. "You want to preserve what Hip-Hop initially came to do which is to spread peace, love, having fun, and unity. We have to be more concerned with the youth, what we're feeding to them."
Artfully North Alabama
While the group is feeding the kids with knowledge, they are fed by Chef Will.
"Chef Will is an amazing cook. The food is made with love. I'm real big on good food. Good food, good music puts you in a good mood," said Shaheed.
Chef Will, also agrees it's important to impart knowledge of nutrition to children, and everyone for that matter.
"Right now we're creating music using biochemistry to teach the people about their body and their physicality of how to take care of themselves and hip-hop is the foundation,"
Wilson has another reason for combining artistry with cooking. "It's requiring culinary arts because no one likes to taste nasty foods, nasty herbs, or 'undelicious', 'unsightful' nutrition. We're putting an aspect of culinary artistry to gain a liking to things that people don't like."