“I had my own dream, and I believed in myself,” Frazier said.
That dream started about five years ago with late‑night cooking at home and later grew into a spot inside @The Square, where he operated for about a year.
“From there, I started saving my money, started thinking about the future,” he said. “If you make some money, let’s say you make $10, put $5 up.”
Frazier’s Kitchen moved into its standalone location in April 2025.
“It was very scary ... everything is scary when you’re trying to do something and there’s a lot of people who didn’t believe in it,” he said.
Students asked Frazier about when he began cooking, whether he had support when launching his business and exactly what goes into the restaurant’s pancakes. Frazier told them that recipe is a secret.
The restaurant’s menu includes wings made on a flat‑top grill, quesadillas, taco salads, potato skins, fries and burgers made with fresh, never‑frozen beef. All‑day breakfast is also available.
Throughout the visit, Frazier emphasized a message of confidence and urgency.
“Don’t wait, do it now,” he said. “Believe in yourself now.”
Jeanita Cummings, CBI program manager, said the event aimed to “expose our students to entrepreneurship, leadership and positive community role models.”
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Several Middletown Middle School students also joined the session, including seventh‑grader Jernee Dean. She said Frazier’s story “inspired” her.
“I learned that you can start from anywhere to be successful,” Dean said. “I like to cook, too, and one day, maybe I’ll want to open my own cooking business or something like that.”
If she were to open a business now, though, Dean said it would be a body and skincare shop.
Frazier said speaking to the students carried personal meaning.
Being “born and raised in Middletown,” he said the visit was “a pleasure, a dream.”
“It was everything to me, and they don’t even know it,” he said.
Frazier will return to the CBI group Monday with food from his restaurant, including a sampling of three desserts — because students couldn’t settle on just one.
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