Today, we're talking about Black History Month events — specifically, how restaurant residencies and chef collaborations are highlighting the diversity of Black diasporic cooking. |
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This year marks 100 years since historian Carter G. Woodson established Negro History Week — the precursor to what would later become Black History Month, formally recognized in 1976. Among the breadth of cultural events from coast to coast, restaurants are recognizing this month's significance with commemorations that highlight the interconnectivity of Black experiences across the U.S. and the broader diaspora through food — building community through collaborative moments that offer diners a broader look at the diversity of Black foodways.
On Monday, the Brooklyn community space Studio1514, otherwise known as "Bed-Stuy's queer living room," will host a Black History Month Feast that brings together three culinary talents to showcase the variety and depth of Black diaspora cuisine. Per the event's multi-slide Instagram announcement, attendees can expect not just the flavors of a singular chef, but a medley of flavors and cooking styles from three different Black chefs — Tajeh Porter (of Nura in Greenpoint), and Ashanti Shurat and Carlye Lester, both chefs at HAGS in the East Village — all served family-style. It's an evening designed to present, in the Studio's words, "Three chefs. Three Black experiences.
Kansas. Louisiana. Belize," referring to the places where each chef grew up. The result is an experience where the dishes are truly in conversation with one another, functioning as an edible celebration of the diversity of Black diasporic culinary traditions. Later this month, just a few blocks from Studio 1514, chef and cookbook author Will Coleman will be hosting the second night of his two-dinner residency takeover at Brown Butter, serving specialties like charred jerk corn, double-garlic mac and cheese, and a plantain-crusted fried fish with a honey and lime glaze. And in Chelsea, Markette chef India Doris is hosting a six-course tasting menu in collaboration with James Beard Award-winning chef JJ Johnson at the European Caribbean restaurant. In the words of the event site, the "dinner honors the culinary traditions shaped by migration, memory, and family heritage. Each course reflects the shared dialogue between Caribbean, Afro-Latino, and contemporary New York cooking."
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The movement isn't exclusive to New York. At LA's Maydan Market, you'll find a residency from Tiana Gee, the Los Angeles-based chef and founder of SoulPhil, a "heart-crafted pop up dinner series" that combines Southern comfort food and Filipino flavors for a nostalgic, comforting smorgasbord of macapuno cornbread, adobo short ribs, and watermelon granita. As Gee tells Eater, the residency — which is in celebration of Black History Month and Women's History Month — is also an opportunity for her to build an even more familiar rapport with customers that goes beyond what she calls the "'catch me if you can' moment"; usually, as she explains, SoulPhil functions as a "one night to a couple nights, one location, and if you missed it, you missed it [experience]." But a residency, she says, "allows people to actually find us, return, and come eat the food over an extended period of time, which has been really meaningful." In downtown LA, "soul and sea" restaurant Joyce has collaborated on several special menus with prominent Black chefs, including John Cleveland (of Post & Beam fame), Andra Harris (Bougie Eats Academy), and, this upcoming Monday, with two-time James Beard Award nominee Keith Corbin (Alta Adams). Earlier this week, as Danielle Dorsey reported for the Los Angeles Times, the Caribbean American restaurant Bridgetown Roti collaborated on a dinner with the Afro-centric restaurant Two Hommés in Inglewood. In Chicago, chef Dominique Leach has started a new chef dinner series in honor of Black History Month called South Side + Friends that is hosting a special "elevated pie-inspired dinner" in collaboration with chef Maya-Camille Broussard (Justice of the Pies). And this Sunday in Atlanta, the cafe and bistro Bread & Butterfly is hosting a collaborative dinner from chefs Demetrius Brown, Max Hines, Cleophus Hethington, and Justin Dixon for the fourth annual Edna Lewis Sunday Supper, which will celebrate the incredible food legacy of Edna Lewis, whom the event calls a true "pioneer of Southern cuisine and a storyteller through food." From Brooklyn to LA to Atlanta, these collaborations make a simple point: Black cooking isn't one thing. It's regional, diasporic, and constantly evolving. These dinners are less about spectacle and more about showing how wide-ranging Black cooking actually is — from Southern soul food traditions to Caribbean and diasporic mashups shaped by migration and memory. Whether it's a one-night takeover or a longer run like SoulPhil's, the through line is collaboration; these chefs and restaurants work in tandem to create not only an unforgettable meal for diners, but also highlight the personal and regional histories behind their dishes. As HAGS' Lester tells Eater, "We all come from such different regional backgrounds [so] the three of us coming together to cook for the first time feels really special and exciting." |
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