By Scott Cronick
If Braeden Anderson’s life was made into a 10-part Netflix series, most people would say his story was too implausible.
No one could face that much adversity that many times. No one could rise above it with such positivity. It’s just too much to be true.
But, believe me, Braeden Anderson’s story is 100 percent true. It’s a staggering tale of what a determined human being could do with the right attitude and a full tank of passion and determination.
Locals know the 30-year-old Anderson – and his business partner and fiancée Selena Gabrielle – as the proprietors of Brigantine’s Black Turtle Coffee Co. and Kook Burger. But those who know Anderson well can tell you his path to being a restaurateur, lawyer and entrepreneur was anything but easy.
Anderson’s tale starts as an immigrant story. Born and raised in Calgary, the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta, where he found himself homeless and bouncing around some “really tough living situations” as a teenager, looking to escape an abusive household.
Damaged inside but seemingly powerful outside, the now 6-foot-8 Anderson had one specific skill that he knew could help him escape this existence: He could play basketball – really, really well.
After appearing on the cover of the former Crown Magazine for being one of the most promising young basketball players in Canada, Anderson was recruited to come to America at a school in Creedmore, N.C., that groomed potential basketball stars.
When he arrived, the school wasn’t the utopia he was promised.
“There were some really good basketball players there … Andrew Wiggins was there,” said Anderson, referring to the Kansas Jayhawks standout, No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA draft and now a Golden State Warrior in the NBA. “But they put me in this apartment with 15 others aged 13 to 19. Here I am, at 14 years old, away from my friends and family and everyone I know, and we lived alone with no supervision. And the living conditions were all of us in sleeping bags on the floor, even the kitchen floor. We would get groceries once a week, and it wasn’t enough. Sometimes, it would be devoured in hours, and we wouldn’t know where our next meal would come from. We were lucky if the coach would occasionally take us to a McDonald’s or Wendy’s, but that was only if we won and played really well.”
For a long time, Anderson resented the coach and the harsh conditions, but he has moved on and chose forgiveness instead of revenge.
“When I think about it, even though it was bad, it was still the best opportunity I had and was better than where I came from,” Anderson said. “It colored my entire life experience. Every opportunity in life is not always shiny and sparkly. I don’t envy those from privilege because they don’t have the skills I have – mental toughness and fortitude and determination – to get through tough times despite the obstacles.”
The experience made Anderson stronger, and he used his time in Creedmore to get better at basketball and to seek a new school, which he found in Wilbraham & Monson Academy, a private college-prep school outside of Boston that provided him with a much better living situation in a dorm and attention from major universities.
It seemed like things were finally turning in the right direction for Anderson. He first signed with Kansas University, but as usual, that turned sour.
“The NCAA has verification qualifications for scholarships, and my high school was not accredited by the state, which I didn’t know,” he explained. “So, even though I had a 1450 on my SATS, I was deemed a partial qualifier, and the Big 12 (which Kansas is part of), does not accept partial qualifiers.”
Declared ineligible to play in the Big 12, Anderson chose to head west to play for Fresno State.
“I wanted to be like (Los Angeles Clippers forward and All-Star) Paul George,” Anderson said. “Be one and done. As an All American player, I was too good for Fresno State at the time, but I figured I would do a year there and go to the NBA.”
It was a good plan. Anderson’s first two semesters put him on the Dean’s List with a 3.8 grade point average to qualify him to be a full qualifier. He was set to suit up for Fresno State and actually played in 10 games, starting in seven.
And then fate intervened … again.
On Sept. 3, 2013, Anderson broke his neck in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. He suffered a displacement of the C-5 through C-6 vertebrae and had a 0.6 percent chance of being discharged from the hospital.
Always one to overcome the odds, Anderson not only survived, but thrived. Thanks to a Stanford Medical team led by Surgeon Gene Carriagee, Anderson went through multiple operations and left the hospital in 28 days, followed by nine months of rehab.
“I’ve gotten through a lot of stuff in life, but this pivot was, ‘How do I get out of here alive?’,” Anderson said. “It was brutal. I lost 70 pounds, the muscle atrophy was incredible after being on an IV for nourishment for a month. The body just wilts away. Forget about sitting up in bed, I couldn’t even move. I couldn’t lift my head. I went from being the strongest guy on my team at 6-8 and 250 pounds to not being able to move.”
Once again, Anderson used the experience as a wake-up call, focusing on academics while being redshirted for medical reasons.
“The NBA and basketball were my ways to escape homelessness and abuse and to create a better life for me and my family, and you just see it pass you by,” Anderson said. “It’s really easy to feel sorry for yourself and become a victim. I was hit by a drunk driver! There was nothing I could have done. Those are the times when your mental resolve is challenged the most – when devastating things happen to you that are not your fault. So, instead of feeling bad for myself, I just focused on ‘How do I lose less in this situation?’ I thought about, ‘How can I win and turn this negative situation into a positive somehow?’ The only potential avenue I saw was leveraging my medical redshirt. I realized basketball was the only thing I had in the world, and the scholarship was the only thing separating me from homelessness again, and what if that got stripped away from me? So, I thought, ‘How do I insure myself and make sure I have something to come back to in case I am not same player after my injuries.’”
Anderson made a full recovery, returning to the court as a sophomore, playing in 17 games, starting in seven. The following season, he was released from his basketball responsibilities to focus on academics.
Because of the medical redshirt, Anderson would have five years of scholarship to take advantage of. So, he came up with a plan to graduate early and then use the transfer rule to play while in law school and have the scholarship pay for it. It was brilliant … except no one would go along with it.
“As a Canadian, I didn’t qualify for American student loans, and there was no way I could pay $110,000 a year for tuition, room and board, so this was my only shot,” Anderson said. “So, I convinced Fresno State to allow me to take 30 credits a semester, which is absurd; I don’t know anyone who has done that. And I graduated early. But the next piece of getting into a law school was the brick wall. I didn’t realize until later that this was never done before.”
Anderson said he received about 350 rejections from universities and basketball coaches before Seton Hall University took a chance on him as a basketball player and law school student.
“You are talking about eight hours of mandatory basketball activities a day and another eight hours a day for the academics,” Anderson said. “So, I understand why all of those schools said ‘no.’ Seton Hall was the exception. They knew it was crazy and they said, ‘We are either going to look like fools or we are going to look really smart, and it’s all basically on you. You will either make us look good or make us look like idiots.’ And I looked them in the eyes and said, ‘I will not make you look dumb. I promise I can do this. If anyone on the planet can do this, I can. I won’t let you down.’ I knew that I could be a pioneer for other athletes to do this down the road, or if I failed, it might prevent others who had the same drive, and I certainly didn’t want to have that impact.”
Anderson ended up playing with Seton Hall and studying law for two years, followed by another year of just law school after getting his green card. Along the way, he helped the Pirates win a Big East Conference Championship in 2016. At some point, Anderson realized he wasn’t going to be in the NBA, and he was fine with that.
“The basketball piece didn’t work as well as I hoped,” he admitted. “It’s hard to get same playing time opportunities when you may be focused on something else like law school. After the injury, I was different. I played more cautiously instead of the reckless abandon I once had going for rebounds and loose balls. I could have played overseas or maybe be on a minimum contract with the NBA, but that’s a tough life. And when I graduated law school, the financial opportunities were way more lucrative as a lawyer.”
Anderson didn’t just become a lawyer, but his first job out of law school was with the New York City law firm Sidley Austin, one of the largest law firms in the world. He now works as a financial regulatory attorney for Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s largest law firm in terms of revenue.
“Less than 10 percent of Seton Hall grads get big jobs at the top 50 or 100 law firms,” Anderson said. “These are serious jobs. They are like the NBA of the legal profession.”
If you think his story is worth reading more about, you can read his autobiography, “Black Resilience,” that he wrote and will be released on April 18.
But the story is far from over. He is now a restaurateur, as well, teaming up with Gabrielle to form Absecon Capital, which is the parent company of Black Turtle Co. and Kook Burger, which have expanded into Philadelphia.
“I could just be a lawyer and plug away and then when I have extra time go to the beach or whatever, but that’s not me,” Anderson said. “Because I fought so hard to get where I am, the fight is in me. It’s a different mindset. I always feel the need to push and challenge myself to grow and do more.”
Gabrielle seems like the perfect partner – in business and life.
“I’m thrilled to be part of the hospitality industry,” she said. “It’s a field that allows us to create experiences that bring people together and make lasting memories. We’re proud to have created businesses that offer unique and unforgettable experiences to our customers. As a female business owner, I’m especially passionate about empowering other women in this industry. My hope is that through the success of Absecon Capital, I can inspire other women to pursue their passions and become leaders in their own right.”
Both Black Turtle Coffee Co. and Kook Burger exemplify the couple’s passion for food and need to be the best in everything they touch.
“I thought about what businesses outside of law would make me happy that I am passionate about, and it’s hospitality,” Anderson said. “As someone who was homeless and didn’t know where my next meal was coming from, I work hard to eat well and dine well and have good coffee and good culinary experiences. I spend a fair chunk of my money on eating and drinking well. It’s something I always enjoyed.”
Black Turtle Coffee was the first step, opening in Brigantine in 2021, because Anderson couldn’t get a good cup of coffee after he moved to South Jersey.
“I grew accustomed to living in Manhattan and being able to get great coffee everywhere, and then I couldn’t find it anywhere,” he said. “So, why not open a coffee place so I can get a good cup of coffee and hopefully make some money.”
The key to Black Turtle’s success is its use of single origin, organic, in-house roasted coffee made with fresh, recently picked beans form the Mogiana region of Brazil.
“Our mission was to never compromise, to buy the best beans, to get the best roaster, to roast nearly every day,” he said. “And I think it’s the best cup of coffee you will find down here. The coffee is incredibly flavorful with a natural sweetness, so you don’t have to add a ton of sugar if you roast it medium. It’s just special.”
Anderson and Gabrielle were an instant success story on the island, but an empty storefront that shared a wall with Black Turtle called them to do their next venture, Kook Burger, which opened a year later.
“We thought a quality smash burger joint was something really needed in Brigantine,” Anderson said. “Those big, 8-ounce thick burgers are old school and out of style. Two 4-ounce certified angus beef patties with less fat are far more satisfying and delicious. Our purveyors laughed when we chose the meat for the burgers we use. They said, ‘We sell that to Michelin Star restaurants and you want it for this little place in Brigantine?’ But I knew it had to be like Black Turtle. No compromises. There is a segment of the population that appreciate the good things in life and will pay more for those things. We don’t kill people in price, but I think we offer a better quality coffee and burger than anyone. And now that people come to our places, their palates become more refined, and they become smarter and realize what we do.”
Kook, which is mostly a takeout spot with two small tables in Brigantine, expanded to Philadelphia on Super Bowl Sunday with a huge 3,000-plus square-foot space, a giant bar, a liquor license, more menu options and a second-floor space that will open late June to host comedy, concerts and more. The second Black Turtle will open a block away in the next 30 to 45 days.
As for the food, the Brigantine Kook Burger is legit. The menu is lean but mean. The burgers rank as some of the best smash burgers we have tried in the area. Check out the Broski Burger with bacon, jalapenos, goat cheese and sriracha mayo. They also have a classic and spicy fried chicken sandwich that will put most others in the area to shame. Fun sides include poutine – fries with cheese curds and gravy – and Kooky Fries with signature Kook Sauce, cheese sauce and fresh grilled onions.
But don’t sleep on the Shoobie Shakes, six different $30 shakes that rival if not better any creation from Sugar Factory. The Sunburnt Berry, for example, features a strawberry cheesecake milkshake rimmed with cream cheese icing and graham cracker crumbs then topped with whipped cream and an entire piece of strawberry cheesecake. The popular Kake Shake is a birthday cake milkshake rimmed with vanilla icing and rainbow sprinkles, then topped with whipped cream, strawberry glaze and an entire slice of birthday cake. Guests get to keep the branded glass, and if they bring it back, they can get any shake for $11 less.
Don’t walk there, run!
“When I think of Absecon Capital and you imagine a roller-coaster, we are on the first couple clicks,” Anderson said. “We are really just getting started. The goal is to expand these concepts nationally … and then franchising. But we don’t want to move too quickly. We want to make sure from a corporate perspective that we are taking the appropriate market share before we franchise.”
Like the rest of Anderson’s life, anything can happen, and he will be up for the challenge.
“I love being a lawyer,” Anderson said. “But you have to keep life interesting. I also love being an author and being a founder of restaurant concepts. You never know what the future holds, but I am certainly committed to keeping the momentum going and keeping the balls in the air.”
Why not? He hasn’t dropped one yet.
Black Turtle and Kook Burger are located 3101 Revere Blvd., Brigantine. Both are open daily. For more information go to KookBurger.com and BlackTurtleCoffee.com
Scott Cronick is an award-winning journalist who has written about entertainment, food, news and more in South Jersey for nearly three decades. He hosts a daily radio show – “Off The Press with Scott Cronick” – 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Newstalk WOND 1400-AM, 92.3-FM, and WONDRadio.com, and he also co-owns Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, while working on various projects, including charitable efforts, throughout the area. He can be reached at scronick@comcast.net.
