After Wednesday night’s season premiere of “Hell’s Kitchen,” the Fox cooking competition starring celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s temper, the audience learned a few fun factoids about local chef James “J.R.” Robinson.

But with one episode down and (possibly) many more to go, Robinson managed to keep one serious fact about himself hidden from those prying reality show producers: The founder of D.C.’s KitchenCray, a popular private chef and events company, has been homeless off and on throughout his life, starting at age 12.

Robinson has worked hard to overcome this difficult past, and is now a young and thriving top chef. Since founding KitchenCray in 2013, several big names have sampled Robinson’s food, including foodie/New York Knicks’s star, Amar’e Stoudemire. Stoudemire even has his own cook book entitled “Cooking with Amar’e.”

To continue reading, visit washingtonpost.com