Warren Brown '93 has made good use of his Brown history degree - as a full-time cake-baker and owner of the Cakelove bakery in Washington, D.C. In addition to running the bakery and the Love Café, which serves breakfast, lunch and desserts next door, Brown is now the star of a culinary TV show.
Brown hosts "Sugar Rush," a program dedicated entirely to desserts of every kind, each week on Food Network. With the first season almost complete and a second forthcoming, Brown is making headway as a TV personality and dessert aficionado.
Brown's days on College Hill and his decision to concentrate in history did not prepare him for his eventual career path, but they served him well when he was a public defender in the United States Department of Health and Hu-man Services. While in Providence, he served as a student government leader and participated in other extra-curricular activities, as well. And though his collegiate career gave little indication that he would eventually pursue culinary arts, Brown said his activities outside of the classroom had some connection to his current occupation and plans for the future. The chaos of event-planning and lead-ership gave him some insight as to what it would be like running his own business, he said.
Other elements of life in Providence provided more obvious ties to his current occupation.
"I cooked a lot at Brown," he said. "I used to live in Slater, and we all chipped in money for dinner. ...We made everything from roast turkey, to breakfast burritos and pasta."
Toward the end of his four years in Providence, Brown said he spontaneously purchased a 500-page cookbook from the Brown Bookstore.
He also found inspiration for Love Café on campus. Brown said the atmosphere he strived to emulate was "a combination of the (Rockefeller Library) on the second floor ... and the Blue Room café but kind of better food."
According to Brown, the Love Café is a relaxed environment with a "laissez faire" staff - some people come and go while others socialize or use the free Wi-Fi Internet access.
He recently opened another Cakelove bakery in Silver Spring, Md., which is more than twice the size of the original U Street location. Additionally, he plans to write his own version of a cookbook to come out sometime next year. As his business flour-ishes and new projects arise, Brown has no reservations about his unlikely career change.
"My only regret is that I didn't start baking earlier," he said.
Brown's friends and parents were encouraging and support-ive of his new endeavor. He always had a true passion and interest for food, he said, and so his abrupt job switch did not come as a shock.
But why cakes in particular?
As a self-taught cook, Brown did not even begin baking until after college, but he said he quickly learned that "cakes have a certain sort of magnetism." After a simple chocolate cake he brought to John F. Kennedy International Airport elicited much attention from other trav-elers, he noticed that people are particularly drawn to cakes over other desserts.
Brown's specialty creations - such as "Crunchy Feet" pound cakes - are likely to garner attention on the Main Green on April 6 and 7, when the Cakelove cook returns to his alma mater.
