9/13/2023 0 Comments Shaw bijou closedClose family friends that didn’t really know my life story, how I got to where I am – it was eye-opening for them. My grandmother was finding out things she never knew about me and crying for other reasons. “It brought back moments she was trying to forget. His mother, who ran a catering company while raising him in the Bronx, cried upon first read – and so did he. He tells me he gets about five letters per day, often thanking him for being vulnerable. He penned detailed accounts of his times as a 10-year-old in Nigeria fetching water and raising livestock, and the days he sold candy to passengers on the subways. He talked to his family and friends to recreate scenes. The writing process forced Onwuachi to divulge details he’d previously hidden. It’s not just for people in the culinary industry. This book is not just for young black chefs. You tuck it somewhere where you don’t have to talk about it ever again. But there are certain parts that aren’t glorious, ones you don’t share with people. I have been exploring this for awhile, telling my story. “I don’t think it’s ever easy doing a new thing you’re not familiar with – a new medium. However, the chapters in between reveal more than his thoughts on culinary life. Onwuachi’s memoir, released this spring, is described as “an intersection of race, fame and food.” The book begins and ends with the chef’s thoughts on his-then most recent project Shaw Bijou: the excitement, jubilation and exhaustion he felt before its opening and the utter disappointment that followed its closing – and the accompanying negative murmurs from the public. I have this other side of my life now, which is very open, raw vivid, that other people feel very connected to and are inspired by, which is a really cool feeling.” An Open Book “Despite all these things happening, I’m still doing something I love. “I definitely have days where I feel as if nothing is going right,” Onwuachi said. And yet, he’s still perpetually in the kitchen. These accolades have led him to travel the globe – from Mexico to Chicago to Africa – to cook and appear at events and conferences, take calls with Issa Rae, and DM Ava DuVernay. The published memoir ends before the story of his successes at Kith/Kin and fast-casual spot Philly Wing Fry reach the pages, but the ongoing narrative has played out in the various 2019 press coverage singing his praises. It made sense to turn his background into a book: the tale of a young man who was in a gang and sold drugs before graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and opening a restaurant in the nation’s capital – all before the age of 30. Onwuachi’s story has always held the intrigue of diners and viewers alike, from Shaw Bijou menu items reminiscent of dishes from his childhood like fish pies and Butterfingers to his well-received appearances on Top Chef. To see how has been embraced by the world, I couldn’t have imagined it.” I mean, there are certain people who view themselves as extremely interesting, but for the average person, you don’t know how someone is going to react to your story. “When you talk about your story, you never think of yourself as interesting. “It’s kind of like exploring a new facet of what this restaurant industry has to offer,” Onwuachi elaborated, leaning slightly forward. The 29-year-old is a phoenix, rising from the proverbial ashes after his first restaurant Shaw Bijou quickly shuttered in 2016, to become a New York Times best-selling author, Forbes 30-under-30 honoree, and a RAMMY and James Beard Award winner all in the span of about six months. If you haven’t heard of Onwuachi yet, perhaps the most accurate one-line description is: the hottest chef in DC. But the iconic X was still present, freshly tattooed in black on his left wrist, the same color as his painted nails. It was one of the few times I’d seen the chef without his prominent Malcom X hat. He looked completely at ease as one of DC’s most notable photographers, Scott Suchman, snapped pictures of him sitting in an Eames-esque green leather chair. We chatted in a private dining room tucked away in a back corner of his award-winning restaurant, located inside The Wharf’s InterContinental Hotel, on an afternoon in late July. Just a few weeks after national media outlets broke the news that Kwame Onwuachi’s memoir Notes from a Young Black Chef would become the basis for an A24-produced film adaptation starring Lakeith Stanfield, I sat down with the chef at Kith/Kin.
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