Celebrating black culinarians: a salute to legendary chefs and a road map for prospective food prepares

Additionally, Robert Gadsby, the stellar executive chef, whose food at Noe and 676 Restaurant blows me away, says: "You find more Latinos in the industry because it becomes a means to an end to support their families. In general, there are not enough people of color [who are] passionate about the food industry--they're not exposed enough to the importance of the food industry."

From my perspective, there are not enough role models for Blacks in the culinary world. We need more people like Michelle Jean, the restaurateur behind Ginger in Harlem, and Melba Wilson of Melba's in Harlem. I would love to see more restaurants like Bin 36 in Chicago.

As people of color, I believe our next challenge is to own diverse kinds of restaurants. A Black restaurant should not only serve soul food. And in order to do foods that come from other places, we have to expose ourselves. As Gadsby said, "Traveling allows you to understand culture. If someone asks you to do Chinese food and you've never been [to China], you'll make something abbreviated--it won't be authentic. That doesn't mean just traveling to Shanghai, Singapore, Japan or Europe. Go to the nearest food store. Go to a new local restaurant."

When I spoke with Leah Chase, "the queen of Creole cooking," author, proprietor and cook at Dooky Chase's in New Orleans, she mentioned the importance of education for would-be cooks and up-and-coming chefs. "Get yourself some formal training and then you can put your natural touch into your food," she says. "Back in the days when Dooky Chase's first opened [1941], 90 percent of restaurants in New Orleans were Black-owned. Nowadays, the chefs get all the acclaim. If they're gonna give you credit, you better have something to back it up. It's really important to have that formal training under your belt. You can't just wing it anymore. Somewhere you have to have formal training. Take it and go far."

Marvin Woods agrees. "Get a good foundation ... and that means you're not going to get a lot of money right off," he says. "In this industry your skills are as important as book skills. If you can't afford culinary school, entrench yourself with a top chef. Put your time in, pay your dues. No matter how high you go, you're a cook first, every day that's the skill, the craft you work on."

One program that helps people of color build a solid foundation in the food industry is Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), which offers scholarships and mentoring for high school students interested in the culinary arts. Sylva Senate, chef at the Mercer Kitchen in New York, is one of the talented chefs who emerged from C-CAP. "I went to Dewey in Brooklyn. I was in their culinary program. At 17, Richard Grausman, the president of C-CAP, introduced me to the chef at the restaurant Sign of the Dove. It was a three-star restaurant. The food was French with an American twist. By 17, I was working at a three-star restaurant."