GenXYZ 2023 — Terence Rogers

Chef Terence Rogers and his restaurant, Sullivan Scrap Kitchen, has sustainability in food, staff and community as the core of his mission.

ColoradoBiz Staff //May 15, 2023//

GenXYZ 2023 — Terence Rogers

Chef Terence Rogers and his restaurant, Sullivan Scrap Kitchen, has sustainability in food, staff and community as the core of his mission.

ColoradoBiz Staff //May 15, 2023//

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Terence Rogers, 33

Chef/Owner, Sullivan Scrap Kitchen | Denver

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, U.S. restaurants generate an estimated 22 to 33 billion pounds of food waste each year. Chef Terence Rogers wants to change that, and his restaurant, Sullivan Scrap Kitchen, has sustainability in food, staff and community as the core of its mission. Rogers reduces food waste by finding creative ways to utilize ingredients and repurpose items before they end up in compost.

Rogers is also the chef and owner of TBD Foods, a premier farm-to-table catering company. Having both businesses operate out of the same building allows for full cross-utilization of ingredients. He focuses on local sources for all ingredients for the restaurant and catering company and works with local farms, ranches, mills, cheese purveyors, honey suppliers and more. 

He started TBD Foods in 2014 out of his apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts, hosting pop-up dinners. He moved to Denver in 2016 and continued hosting pop-up dinners and catering small events. In the winter of 2019 he opened Lil Scrap Kitchen as a pop-up sandwich restaurant out of his commissary one day a week to sell items that were “waste” from catering events. From there Sullivan Scrap Kitchen opened during the pandemic in July 2020. 

In the summer of 2022, Rogers changed the concept of Sullivan Scrap Kitchen from sandwiches and burgers to a plant-focused, small-plates menu that changes throughout the year. Sullivan Scrap Kitchen offers discounts to the teachers and administrators at the school next door, Denver Center for 21st Century Learning.