Chef Drew Archer

From a very young age Drew Archer knew he wanted to work with food. Each summer he spent time with his great-grandparents working in the garden and watching as they froze and canned the food they worked so hard to grow. Archer had his culinary influence from his father’s side of the family who owned three restaurants over the course of their lifetime. His first job was washing dishes in his grandmother’s bistro style restaurant, The Rose Garden. As he got older he began to migrate from the dish pit to the salad station and then on to the hot food line. Throughout high school, Archer worked a handful of different jobs in local restaurants in his hometown of Clover, South Carolina. While in high school, Archer went through Clover High School’s ProStart culinary program and competed in Myrtle Beach at the ProStart Invitational.

After high school, Archer attended Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, NC where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with his Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts. Two years later, he went on to graduate Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Food Service Management with a concentration in Beverage Production. While attending Johnson & Wales University, Chef Archer took two semesters off and worked as a culinary arts demonstrator for the admissions department. He traveled all over the Carolina's and Virginia speaking in high schools and doing culinary demonstrations. It was this job that attracted him to teaching. The year and half leading up to Chef Archer accepting a culinary instructor position at Donaldson Career Center he worked at The Asbury in uptown Charlotte. The Asbury is a seasonal farm to table restaurant that changes its menu daily based on what farmers have available. Here, Archer worked directly with the farmers and brought in nothing but the freshest and best quality food in the Carolina's. He was in charge of opening the restaurant each day, ordering, as well as working his way to lead line cook despite being the youngest back of house employee.

Archer is currently enjoying his tenth year as the Culinary Arts Instructor at Donaldson Career Center. He is eager to share his knowledge with his students while continuing to educate himself.

Archer is married to his high school sweetheart, Emily Jo. They enjoy eating out and trying new foods together, attending every Clemson sporting event possible, and watching the latest movies.