Born and raised in Central Kingston, Jamaica better known as “downtown” Andre grew up being just a regular inner-city statistic; raised by a single mother, I was one of 4 kids in an impoverished community where dreams were easily broken. There were good times and there were bad times, Andre had to give up on his dream of being a pediatrician to his next love; cooking! His passion for Culinary Arts began as a child. Every Sunday, he used to make sweet potato pudding and other local Jamaican specialties with his grandmother, best known as Mama Cherry. As years passed, he jumped at every opportunity to demonstrate his culinary skills by volunteering to cook for friends and family. After seeing their satisfied faces while enjoying his food, he knew he wanted to make a career out of it.
Upon graduating from Runaway Bay HEART Academy, Andre started working in some of Jamaica’s finest establishments, one such, was the award-winning Mac’s Chop House with notable Chef Mario Machado. After Mac’s Chop House, Andre spread his culinary wings to Round Hill Hotel where he spent four years as a sous chef to Chef Martin Maginley creating a new approach to Caribbean flavors with global concepts to share with their exclusive diners such as Ralph Lauren and Sir Paul McCartney.
Andre has then served as chef de cuisine at New York City’s premier Caribbean restaurant, Miss Lily’s for four years, creating modern concepts of Caribbean flavors. Since then, he has made appearances at Food & Wine, Bon Appetit events and the Daily Meal test kitchen in New York City. Easily recognized for his culinary talents, Chef Fowles is a 2x Food Network ‘Chopped’ champion, a finalist on ‘Chopped’ Grand Championship tournament as well as appearing as a contestant on ‘Beat Bobby Flay’ cooking show. Andre has been recognized by his homeland of Jamaica for his incredible achievement internationally. He was awarded “chef of the year” and Jamaica’s food ambassador from the Jamaica Observer food awards and also the prestigious Prime Minister “youth and culture” award.
In 2016, Andre started his hospitality company “Everything Food” based in New York City, where he offers exclusive catering, culinary and restaurant consultations as well as Pop-Up culinary events. Chef Fowles’ cooking style is about light, clean Caribbean flavors while incorporating global concepts. He is Appleton Estate Premier ‘Rumbassador’ and the current culinary ambassador for Jamaican Cuisine.