Donald Kirkpatrick is a chef, with a varied culinary background. He began his career at a pizzeria at the age of 15. Eager to see how things looked from the top he worked hard and was quickly promoted to a team lead, easing the transition into management at 18. Honing his craft over the next 7 years Donald took a strong interest in farm to table preparation with a focus on fine dining. At age 25 he took his first Executive Chef role doubling as the General Manager for Currents Fine Dining Restaurant in Tarpon Springs, FL. During his tenor as Executive Chef the restaurant was voted Best of the Bay in numerous categories by Tampa Bay Magazine and Creative Loafing. The restaurant was also featured in Florida Coastal Magazine as a place to dine in Florida. After many years in that role the fatigue of long nights, weekends, and holidays started to impinge on Donald’s home and family life. As a result, he sought after a position running an employee café located inside a large medical center in Tampa Bay. Donald was able to bring his creativity of bold flavors and fresh food dishes to an otherwise boring and bland cafeteria style breakfast and lunch spot for the employees. The buzz started to spread about the new café and delicious food options now available to the workers. Suddenly people stopped leaving the campus for lunch and started eating at the café more and more. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances the medical facility needed to close its doors; however, Donald had found his niche and there are plenty of businesses around the Tampa Bay area that need the solution that he can provide. That is when the idea of “The Breakroom” was born. Just 22 short days after the closing of the medical center Donald and his wife Erica were holding the keys to the new restaurant space. This truly is a Cinderella story and Donald and Erica could not be happier to join the downtown Clearwater business community.