Dominic Hawkes

Culinary Educator/Author/

Dominic Hawkes is a Master Chef of Great Britain with over 29 years of experience in the food service industry. He began his culinary journey in London’s finest hotels, including the Ritz, Radisson Edwardian & Prince Regent, and the Dubai International Aerospace Show. With a diploma in culinary arts, diploma in food hygiene, and certification in nutrition & health, and wines & spirits. Dominic later completed a bachelor's degree in business studies, majoring in hospitality studies.

After working for Bank of America's Corporate Food Services in their corporate center, Dominic became the Food & Beverage Director at Charlotte City Club, where he worked for 19 years before transitioning into teaching Culinary Arts. Since 2019, he has been teaching at the Lancaster County School District Career Center in South Carolina, where he is certified to teach and proctor certifications by the National Restaurant Association, including ProStart Culinary & ServSafe.

Dominic's commitment to education is exemplified by his successful efforts in 2022 when he and the Lancaster County School District Career Center became the first secondary school in the Carolinas to receive American Culinary Federation accreditation, certifying students with the coveted Certified Fundamentals Cook (CFC) certification.

Dominic's dedication to his students was further highlighted during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns when he swiftly adapted his classes to an online platform. Since then, he has shared his valuable insights with audiences worldwide through his popular YouTube channel, Chef Hawkes. In 2023 he with his co-author Dan Stine published their first textbook & program "Introduction to Culinary Arts Management, Safety, Recipes & Certification." The fastest growing culinary arts & food safety textbook in the US. This is designed to assist high school and post secondary students pass the Food Safety Manager exam, which has a significant failure rate. In February 2024 he, again with his coauthor, published a second textbook, "The Food Protection Manager's Handbook." A textbook and supporting materials to assist college students and professionals in the industry to earn the same certification.

His tireless efforts in the culinary arts also earned him multiple accolades, including his victory at the Carolina Classic Cook-Off and being featured on PBS Charlotte (WTVI). He has also been very generously recognized in South Carolina and nationally for his work in education:
SCACTE New teacher of the Year 2020-21
SCACTE FYI New Teacher of the Year 2021
South Carolina ProStart Educator of Excellence 2022-23
National ProStart Educator of Excellence 2022-23
South Carolina Dept. of Education Culinary Award 2022-23
SCACTE FYI Teacher of the Year 2024
Lancaster County School District Career Center Teacher of the Year 2024-25

Dominic is an instructor with the South Carolina DIRECT CTE teacher induction program and a SC 4.0 evaluator for Lancaster County School District. He also works with the American Culinary Federation accreditation team, travelling to evaluate new and reaccrediting culinary programs around the country.

Dominic is happily married to his awesome educator wife Courtney of 23 years and has two amazing children, Jack & Tate. (Who followed different paths in Career & Technical Education (CTE) in high school too.) Courtney has been a big part in Dominic’s transition into education. Not only being supportive, and helping guide him into a very different environment, but to also succeed in ways he never expected.