The gift of seasoning foods to perfection and uniquely putting a twist on infamous dishes did not initially happen overnight for Norfolk native, Carlton Peterson. Aromas of the sweet and savory, smells created in the kitchen caught the attention of Carlton at a very young age. His mother, seeing his interest in learning how to cook, took that as the perfect opportunity to teach him by allowing him to help her in the kitchen. Unlike most children who enjoyed their Saturdays watching cartoons and kid movies, cooking shows fueled the desires of this soon to be chef. He continued his journey in culinary arts back in high school after taking one class and competing in a culinary Olympic competition where took third place. At this moment in his journey, he realized the possible success within cooking and began at the young age of 15 years old working at Old Dominion University within their catering department. Initially, he started working the front of the house and whenever the opportunity was given he would help out in the kitchen as often as he could, gaining more insight, training and experience in learning the essentials need to be a great chef. For over the course of 10 years, Carlton crossed trained in various areas within Old Dominion where he would eventually attend as a student majoring in Business Management. While at ODU, Carlton was blessed a once in a life time opportunity to cook for the world renounced musical group, Maroon 5.

Carlton had a natural gift as a self-taught chef and he perfected his skills of emerging a plethora of flavors in order to create the perfect cuisine chemistry with every dish. He took the intellectual and hands on insights he gained from Old Dominion and used those experiences to create a mental blue print for his future career plans. Eager to fulfill his purpose and walk into his calling and passion of being a chef, he began to activate a plan that would allow him to bring this dreams into fruition. In 2009, he began a new chapter in his life by creating his own catering business Fruits of Our Labor Catering, F.O.O.L. Catering. At the beginning, he took a few clients periodically as he balanced his business and working full time. For ten years his passion tugged at him and pushed for him to do more. Stepping out on faith, he took a major leap of walking away from his full time job and focusing solely on his business. Making this sacrifice allowed his business to flourish quickly. F.O.O.L. Catering is a company that loves experimenting with new recipes and flavors while adding a new creative twist that woos every client each time. Today Carlton Peterson is continuously expanding his brand of finding various ways to give his customers the ultimate food experience from catering large parties, sold out lunch specials, individualized meal preps to romantic private dinners. His social media following is growing as his calendar quickly begins to book. Overall, Carlton provides a professional, tasty and unforgettable food experience for all ages and taste buds to enjoy.