Sign in with Facebook
Sara's Reviews > Notes from a Young Black Chef
Notes from a Young Black Chef
by
by
What a pleasure this book was! I'm always down for a great restaurant read and this hit all of that and more. I remember rooting for Kwame on Top Chef and I loved how he presented the 'chicken and waffle' incident here in this memoir, its interpretations because he's Black, and the reasons for it / why he had to "please pack your knives and go" on that episode. It wasn't the concept, it really was the frozen waffles.
Other highlights:
- comparing the Culinary Institute of America to Hogwarts
- mention of the man with the skittles and m&ms tattoos who ran the subway candy selling routes
- his mother in general. What a gem of a human!
- this book in makes you want to jump up and cheer. It's laced through with that magnetic Chef-esque exuberance and swagger.
- I love that he pushed his own narrative in person and through his food. From his website and a sentiment shown throughout the book:
"Celebrating his heritage ranging from Nigeria and Jamaica, to West Africa and the Caribbean, to New Orleans and New York, and now immersed in The Wharf of Washington D.C., Chef Kwame finds his culinary impetus in everywhere he's from, everywhere he's been, and the influence of those who know him best."
I sincerely hope that his DC restaurant Kith and Kin makes it through this Covid-caused downturn.
With the #BlackLivesMatter movement happening now I couldn't help but highlight all the salient points that Kwame brings forth as a Black fine-dining chef, a few of which are below.
On why his grandfather went back to Nigeria: "...concluded that the government wouldn't let black activists live in peace until they were either in the ground or in a cell. In 1973, my grandfather realized he could never be free, truly free, in the United States."
On racism and micro-agressions: "It's the unspoken shit, the hard-to-prove, hard-to-pin-down, can't-go-viral day-to-day shit. It's being passed over, time and time again. It's having opportunities you know you earned never materialize. It's that no matter how hard you work, it's never good enough. It's not even seen."
On what a casting director for a chef-tv show said: "The problem is, Kwame, and I hate to say it, but America isn't ready for a black chef who makes this kind of food." "What kind?" I asked. "Find dining: veloute. What the world wants to see if a black chef making black food, you know. Fried chicken and cornbread and collards." If the price for being on TV was to become a caricature, I'd rather remain uncast. To emphasize only that aspect would mean becoming an actor in the long and ugly play of degrading black culture for the benefit of white people.
On a restaurant owner telling him not to wear a Harriet Tubman t-shirt: "It was news to me that publicly celebrating Harriet Tubman had become a political statement. I had thought it was celebrating a shared history."
Other highlights:
- comparing the Culinary Institute of America to Hogwarts
- mention of the man with the skittles and m&ms tattoos who ran the subway candy selling routes
- his mother in general. What a gem of a human!
- this book in makes you want to jump up and cheer. It's laced through with that magnetic Chef-esque exuberance and swagger.
- I love that he pushed his own narrative in person and through his food. From his website and a sentiment shown throughout the book:
"Celebrating his heritage ranging from Nigeria and Jamaica, to West Africa and the Caribbean, to New Orleans and New York, and now immersed in The Wharf of Washington D.C., Chef Kwame finds his culinary impetus in everywhere he's from, everywhere he's been, and the influence of those who know him best."
I sincerely hope that his DC restaurant Kith and Kin makes it through this Covid-caused downturn.
With the #BlackLivesMatter movement happening now I couldn't help but highlight all the salient points that Kwame brings forth as a Black fine-dining chef, a few of which are below.
On why his grandfather went back to Nigeria: "...concluded that the government wouldn't let black activists live in peace until they were either in the ground or in a cell. In 1973, my grandfather realized he could never be free, truly free, in the United States."
On racism and micro-agressions: "It's the unspoken shit, the hard-to-prove, hard-to-pin-down, can't-go-viral day-to-day shit. It's being passed over, time and time again. It's having opportunities you know you earned never materialize. It's that no matter how hard you work, it's never good enough. It's not even seen."
On what a casting director for a chef-tv show said: "The problem is, Kwame, and I hate to say it, but America isn't ready for a black chef who makes this kind of food." "What kind?" I asked. "Find dining: veloute. What the world wants to see if a black chef making black food, you know. Fried chicken and cornbread and collards." If the price for being on TV was to become a caricature, I'd rather remain uncast. To emphasize only that aspect would mean becoming an actor in the long and ugly play of degrading black culture for the benefit of white people.
On a restaurant owner telling him not to wear a Harriet Tubman t-shirt: "It was news to me that publicly celebrating Harriet Tubman had become a political statement. I had thought it was celebrating a shared history."
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Notes from a Young Black Chef.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
June 7, 2020
– Shelved
June 7, 2020
– Shelved as:
to-read
June 8, 2020
–
Started Reading
June 15, 2020
–
Finished Reading
