Mike Curtin, CEO of DC Central Kitchen.

This week's guest on ORIGINS is Mike Curtin, CEO of DC Central Kitchen. After graduating from Williams College in 1986 with a BA in Religion, Mike lived and
worked in Osaka, Japan as a teacher, copywriter, and bartender at his neighborhood pub. Upon
returning to the US, Mike began a 20-year career in the hospitality business, which included
owning and operating his own restaurant, The Broad Street Grill in Falls Church, Virginia, before
joining DC Central Kitchen (DCCK).
When Mike joined DCCK in 2004, he drew on his experiences as an entrepreneur in the
restaurant business to expand the Kitchen’s social enterprise program from less than $500,000
in 2005 to over $7 million in 2014. Under his leadership, DCCK’s social enterprise portfolio
expanded from a small catering outfit to include a full-service catering, contract meals, locally-
sourced, scratched-cooked school meals and a wholesale program that delivers fresh produce
and healthy snacks to corner stores in Washington, DC’s food deserts.