Jeff Henderson grewup in South Central Los Angeles. He is a former drug dealer who spent nearly a decade incarcerated in federal prison. It was in prison that he found his passion -- cooking. Once released, he embarked on a career as a chef.Working his way up from dishwasher to line cook, he became the first African American to be named Chef de Cuisine at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and later executive chef at Café Bellagio. His first book, the memoir Cooked, was a New York Times bestseller and is slated to become a feature film. The Chef Jeff Project, a docu-reality series on the Food Network, debuts in the fall of 2008. Jeff lives in Las Vegas with his wife and three children.