Notes from a Young Black Chef

Content Warning: This section references emotional and physical child abuse, drug use, gang violence, and racism.

 “As for the thousands of black and brown chefs—dubbed cooks, domestics, servants, boys, and mammies who were kept out of restaurant kitchens or overlooked within them—they were beyond consideration. Their work, like them, was invisible.”

One of the major throughlines of Kwame Onwuachi’s memoir is his experience with racism, particularly in restaurant kitchens. This quote represents a larger issue of systemic racism. Onwuachi is treated as though he has not paid his dues and has no authority to establish a fine-dining restaurant in Washington, DC. The sentiment behind that attitude is that Black chefs do not belong in the elevated culinary world. Their contributions—though widespread and profound—to American cuisine are often unrecognized.

“These flavors—all of them—are my first language, even if the syntax and grammar have evolved with time.”

As Onwuachi struggles with The Discovery of Identity, food emerges as a landscape where he feels free to express the amalgamation of his many selves. Onwuachi sees Food as Connection and Story. It is a language that allows him to bring ideas and stories together and to help others connect with them.

“I come from a long line of restaurateurs, from a family whose roots were made of gravy and whose blood ran hot with pimentón.”

One way food anchors Onwuachi in his identity is its connection to ancestry and heritage. His mother owned a catering company, and his grandparents owned two bars in Texas. His grandfather taught him about his ancestors and the importance of carrying them with him. Onwuachi’s point of view pulls together all these roots into a cohesive story.