It was love at first bite for Devin Cummins.

After making his first clam sauce at age six, the budding chef fed his culinary curiosity by enrolling in “the school of Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, and Giada de Laurentiis.” The Food Network graduate also studied cookbooks—an exercise that was both creative and academic for Cummins, who has dyslexia, a language-based learning disability that affects one in five people, according to the National Institutes of Health.

While dense blocks of text taxed his brain, Cummins discovered that recipes—with their photos, lists of ingredients, and step-by-step instructions—activated his mind’s unique wiring. “One of the wonderful things about being dyslexic is that you can see the big picture,” he says. “Recipes popped off the page for me.” 

While at AU, the New York native worked as a prep chef at nearby Café Deluxe and began to marinate a business plan—an idea that came to fruition, fittingly, in the kitchen, a decade after he collected his marketing degree. “I was the designated weeknight chef among my friends,” he says. “I loved the challenge of coming up with something special and easy.”

When one of his buddies mused that he could sell his pork chops with crispy Brussels sprouts, butternut squash puree, and apple chutney, DC Cutting Board was born.

Now in its fourth year, the meal kit service draws on nearly 200 original recipes, all of which can be made vegetarian and are ready in 30 minutes or less. Among his most popular offerings are Tuscan soup with tortellini and kale, cauliflower steaks, sriracha sriracha salmon, curry chicken, and “anything with my jalapeño yogurt sauce.” 

DC Cutting Board boasts an 89 percent retention rate, with 71 percent of clients across Arlington and the District placing weekly orders. “I love when people thank me for feeding their family,” Cummins says.

Such appreciation for the time and care he puts into every dish is an essential ingredient in Cummins’s recipe for success.