James Beard Award-Winning Chef, Author of Notes from a Young Black Chef & Executive Producer at FOOD & WINE Magazine
James Beard Award-Winning Chef, Author of Notes from a Young Black Chef & Executive Producer at FOOD & WINE Magazine
Kwame Onwuachi is a James Beard Award-winning chef and author of the critically acclaimed cookbook My America and memoir Notes from a Young Black Chef, which is being turned into a feature film. Kwame has been named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs, Esquire Magazine’s Chef of the Year, and is a 30 Under 30 honoree by both Zagat and Forbes. He’s also been featured on Time’s 100 Next List and has been named the most important Chef in America by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Kwame appeared as a judge on season 18 of Top Chef after first appearing as a contestant on the show in season 13. He also was the host of the 2021 and 2022 James Beard Awards in Chicago. Kwame currently serves as Food & Wine’s executive producer. In this newly appointed role, Kwame will collaborate on big brand moments and events, including the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, as well as lead “The Family Reunion: Presented by Kwame Onwuachi,” an annual multi-day event that celebrates diversity in the hospitality community.
His restaurant concept Tatiana, opened at the Lincoln Center in November 2022. Since its opening, it has had numerous top accolades, including “The #1 Restaurant in New York City,” by the New York Times, “The One to Watch” by World’s 50 Best Restaurants, and La Liste’s “World's Best Restaurants List.” In the summer of 2024, he will partner with the Salamander DC hotel, to open his newest restaurant concept, Dōgon.
Kwame Onwuachi launched his own catering company with twenty thousand dollars that he made from selling candy on the subway. By the time he was twenty-seven years old, Onwuachi had opened one of the most talked about restaurants in America. But Onwuachi found the road to success riddled with potholes. Growing up in the Bronx led him to brushes with gangs as a teen, drug dealing in college, and encounters with racism as a young chef.
Through food, he broke out of a dangerous downward spiral – embarking on a journey that led him to the kitchens of the most acclaimed restaurants in the country and appearing as a contestant on Top Chef.
A powerful, heartfelt, and shockingly honest story of chasing your dreams – Onwuachi inspires audiences to pursue their passions, despite the odds.
Kwame Onwuachi’s love of cooking remained a constant even when, as a young chef, he was forced to grapple with just how unwelcoming the culinary world can be for people of color. His early experiences taught him about the kind of kitchen he did not want to lead - and that the most devastating forms of racism and sexism are not always the most visible.
Now a James Beard Award-winning chef, Kwame's commitment to an inclusive workplace has attracted some of the most talented chefs in the world of fine dining. Audiences will learn how to shine a light on the challenges their own organizations face, with memorable stories from Kwame's journey to illustrate the ingredients for success.