Chef Tag

Black is Beautiful 2017- Edna Lewis

Here’s the first post for the month. $40 (includes shipping) 8″x8″ mixed media


Edna was born in 1916 in “Freetown” Virginia. Edna was an incredible cool, chef, and teacher. She began cooking at an early age and throughout her life cooked in restaurants, homes, etc. She moved to NYC is a teen, joined the communist party, began cooking for a restaurant called Cafe Nicholson, and went on to teach many what Southern Cooking was really about, linking back to a herstory of growing your vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits, etc and harvesting them. She did cook things like fried chicken but as I understood it, they raised their animals and cooked them for special events. Seasonal dishes and foods. Connected to the land. Besides cooking she was a museum lecturer, author of many cook books, and a historian who passed down the story of how what’s known as Southern hospitality or Southern food came from Africans. So much in her story, I’m just summarizing. First heard of this lady thru author and chef Bryant Terry. Email me at info@robdontstop.com for original


Sources: Ny Times, Edna Lewis Foundation, Doc-Fried Chicken & Sweet Potato Pie

Kindred Journey 6 – Diane Yang

I heard about Diane Yang from the Zagat series by Jessica Sanchez on Foodways. Diane was born and raised in the states, but her parents are Hmong from Laos/Cambodia. She is the executive pastry chef at a restaurant in Minneapolis (home to a big Hmong population) called “Spoon and Stable” where she makes beautiful, yet simple creations influenced by modern and classic techniques. Diane began school at Le Cordon Bleu in 2000 and began working for some incredible restaurants and chefs not long after. I was intrigued by the amazing look of her pastries because I love them, but also by her cultural pride and achievements.

Sources: Foodways/Zagat, Spoon and Stable