Clifford Rome is cooking up ways to empower disadvantaged Chicago youth

CHICAGO - More than 18 years ago, Clifford Rome Jr. was living the life, traveling throughout France working as a chef and culinary trainer at the Cannes Film Festival and working with celebrity chefs like Wolfgang Puck. The Englewood native was walking through doors that were closed to others who looked like him. For a while, he was OK with that, he said, until he was reminded otherwise after accepting a job to build a kitchen on a yacht.

"I figured I could do that, never mind the need for a marine architect and other stuff," said Rome, 47, who eventually took on additional responsibilities as chef aboard the yacht. "They made the offer. I jumped