Kwame Onwuachi
Kwame Onwuachi is a James Beard Award-winning chef, restaurateur, and author. His impressive career includes being named to Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2025, one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs, Esquire Magazine's 2019 Chef of the Year, and a 30 Under 30
honoree by both Zagat and Forbes. On top of that, he was named the most important chef in America by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Raised in New York City, Nigeria, and Louisiana, Onwuachi's culinary journey began in his mother's modest Bronx apartment. He turned his early passion into a thriving career, which includes a diverse range of experiences, from working on oil cleanup ships to cooking in some of the world's top restaurants. He trained at the Culinary Institute of America and by the age of 30, had opened five restaurants, including the groundbreaking Afro-Caribbean eatery Kith/Kin in Washington, D.C.
In 2025, Onwuachi was selected by Anna Wintour and the Met Gala Board to curate the menu for Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. He has hosted the James Beard Awards in both 2021 and 2022 and frequently appears as a judge or talent on TV shows such as “Top Chef,” “Chopped,” “Billions,” and “Somebody Feed Phil.” Kwame is a part of the The Culinary Collective by The Centurion Lounge,a Lexus Culinary Master, and currently serves as an Executive Producer for Food & Wine, collaborating on major brand events like the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
In 2021, he released his first cookbook, “My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef,” which features over 125 recipes inspired by the African Diaspora, including Onwuachi's own family's culinary history, from Nigeria and the Caribbean to the South and the Bronx. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed memoir Notes from a Young Black Chef, which is currently being adapted into a feature film. In September 2026, he’ll release his next cookbook, “All Hours: Crazy Good Food for Whatever, Whenever,” a collection of the bold, craveable recipes he cooks around the clock, from quick morning bites to late-night fare.
Onwuachi's restaurant, Tatiana, opened at Lincoln Center in November 2022, honoring his New York roots and the culinary legacy of the African Diaspora. Since its debut, Tatiana has received multiple accolades, including being named the "#1 Restaurant in New York" by the New York Times for two consecutive years, "The One to Watch" by World's 50 Best Restaurants, and a spot on North America's 50 Best List in 2026.
In the summer of 2024, Onwuachi partnered with Salamander DC to open Dōgon, a restaurant inspired by the Mali-based African tribe of the same name, which pays tribute to Benjamin Banneker, a descendant of the tribe who played a key role in Washington, D.C.'s early design. Within six months, Dōgon earned a spot as #2 on Washingtonian's list of Best Restaurants in D.C., was included on Condé Nast Traveler's Best New Restaurants in the World: 2025 Hot List and New York Times Best Restaurants of 2025, and was named to North America's 50 Best List in 2026.
Maroon, now open at SAHARA Las Vegas, marks Chef Kwame Onwuachi's first West Coast restaurant. A Caribbean steakhouse, Maroon brings his signature blend of Nigerian, Creole, and Afro-Caribbean influences to the Strip, translating the bold, heritage-driven cooking that defines Tatiana and DĹŤgon into an elevated steakhouse setting. The opening represents a milestone in Onwuachi's expanding national portfolio, extending his reach from New York and Washington, D.C. to Las Vegas. Onwuachi's Patty Palace by Chef Kwame is available at Citi Field and Barclays Center with more news to come.
Ann Kim
Ann Kim is the Chef/Owner of Pizzeria Lola and Hello Pizza in Minneapolis, and drives the culinary vision for Kyndred Hearth, the flagship restaurant at Omni Viking Lakes Hotel, a partnership between Omni Hotels and the Minnesota Vikings. A Korean immigrant raised in
Minnesota, Ann credits her culinary palate and love of cooking to her mother and grandmother, from whom she learned to make traditional Korean staples like doenjang, gochujang, and kimchi.
In 2010, Ann opened Pizzeria Lola, a wood-fired pizzeria that quickly earned local and national acclaim, followed by Hello Pizza, inspired by her college days eating daily slices in New York City. In 2019, Ann became the first woman and first person of color from Minneapolis to receive the James Beard Award for Best Chef Midwest. She was featured on Netflix's Chef's Table: Pizza, and her work has been covered by The New York Times, Vogue, Forbes, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, and Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, among others. Most recently, Ann became the first chef to launch a line of frozen pizzas and Korean appetizers in partnership with Good & Gather at Target.
Hannah Ziskin
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Hannah Ziskin is the pastry chef and co-owner of Quarter Sheets alongside partner Aaron Lindell. The restaurant has earned national recognition for the cult-favorite combination of crispy-edged pizza and specialty cakes. In 2023, Ziskin was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs, and is a 2026 James Beard Semifinalist.
Aaron Lindell
Founded in January 2022 by chef-owners Aaron Lindell and Hannah Ziskin, Quarter Sheets is a neighborhood pizzeria in Echo Park that has quickly become one of Los Angeles’s most celebrated new dining destinations. The restaurant has earned national recognition for Lindell’s crispy-edged pan pizza and California cookery alongside Ziskin’s specialty cakes and seasonal desserts — a joyful, cult-favorite combination that’s redefining what a neighborhood pizzeria can be.
Amethyst Ganaway
Chef Amethyst Ganaway is a Charleston native and chef, writer, and curator whose work explores Black Southern, Gullah Geechee, and African diasporic foodways. Her writing and culinary work have appeared in Food & Wine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Saveur, and at institutions including the Smithsonian and the Museum of Food and Drink. She is a recipient of the South Carolina Governor’s Award in the Humanities and is currently curating Harvesting Heritage, an exhibition exploring African American innovation and creativity in South Carolina foodways. Her forthcoming cookbook, Black South: Recipes from the Roota to the Toota, celebrates the resourcefulness, history, and traditions that have shaped Black Southern cooking.
Frank Stitt
Frank Stitt is an acclaimed Birmingham chef and restaurateur whose cooking helped define modern Southern cuisine. A native of Alabama, Stitt developed an early appreciation for local farming before studying philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley and training in influential kitchens in California and France, including Chez Panisse and with mentor Richard Olney.
After returning to the South, Stitt opened Highlands Bar & Grill in 1982, followed by Bottega (1988), Café Bottega (1990), and Chez Fonfon (2000). His restaurants are known for gracious hospitality, seasonal ingredients, and a commitment to regenerative agriculture and humane animal husbandry.
Stitt’s honors include the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast, membership in the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America,” the Southern Foodways Alliance’s Craig Claiborne Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the Alabama Academy of Honor, and induction into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame. Highlands Bar & Grill received the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Restaurant in 2018, and Bottega was a finalist for Outstanding Hospitality in 2026. Both Chez Fonfon and Bottega were recognized by the Michelin Guide 2025 on the “Recommended” restaurant list.
Called the “godfather of Southern Cuisine” by Garden & Gun, Stitt is also the author of two cookbooks, Frank Stitt’s Southern Table and Bottega Favorita. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with his wife and business partner, Pardis, and has two children, Marie (Edward) and Weston (Mallie) and four grandchildren.
Melissa King
Melissa King is a James Beard Award-winning chef, author, and television personality. She is the author of the James Beard-winning cookbook Cook Like a King: Recipes from My California Chinese Kitchen. She won Bravo’s Top Chef: All Stars L.A., was voted Fan Favorite, and holds the record for the most challenge wins in the show’s history. Recognized for her modern California Chinese cuisine, she is a leading voice shaping conversations through food, cultural storytelling, and advocacy.
Growing up in Los Angeles’s San Gabriel Valley, King is a queer Shanghainese Cantonese American who began cooking alongside her family before training at the Culinary Institute of America. She went on to train in Michelin-starred kitchens in San Francisco. Her work has since taken her beyond the kitchen into television, fashion, and culture, including hosting Tasting Wild for National Geographic, curating the 2022 Met Gala menu, and being featured in global campaigns for Levi’s and GAP. Her memoir, The Girl Who Became King, arrives this fall.
Carrie Morey
Carrie Morey founded her handmade biscuit business in 2005 with the goal of making the tender, buttery, made-by-hand biscuits of her mother accessible across the country. Now two decades later, Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit is widely recognized as an iconic Southern brand with national retail and e-commerce exposure, grab-and-go eateries, a catering division in Charleston, 24 SFA sofi™ awards, and a cult-like following. Carrie is the author of cookbooks: Callie’s Biscuits and Southern Traditions and Hot Little Suppers and stars in the culinary docu-series, How She Rolls, about biscuits, business, and balance in her life as an entrepreneur. She resides in Charleston, SC with her husband and three daughters.
Carla Hall
Carla Hall first won over audiences when she competed on Bravo’s Top Chef and Top Chef: All Stars, where she shared her philosophy of always cooking with love. A trained chef who has worked in several professional restaurant kitchens in and around the Washington, D.C. area, Carla believes food connects us all—a belief she strives to convey through her work, her cooking, and her daily interactions with others. That same belief in intention, connection, and nourishment beyond the plate also led her to co-create The MeMenu, a personal growth framework designed to help people invest time and care in themselves with the same thoughtfulness they bring to food.
Carla spent seven years co-hosting ABC’s Emmy Award–winning lifestyle series The Chew and is currently featured on Fox in the Next Level Baker Holiday Event series. She is also co-host of the YouTube sensation Chewed Up and this year (2026) she will perform her one woman play “Carla Hall – Please Underestimate Me” at the Olney Theater in Maryland. Previously, Carla was the host of the Emmy Award–winning culinary travel show Chasing Flavors on Max, and has served as a judge on multiple seasons of culinary competition series including Harry Potter: The Wizards of Baking, Halloween Baking Championship, and Holiday Baking Championship.
Her latest cookbook is also her first baking book, Carla Hall Bakes: Sweet & Savory, From My Heart to Your Kitchen will debut in September 2026. Earlier books include Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, was published in 2018, landing on annual “Best Cookbook” lists across the country and receiving an NAACP Image Awards nomination. She has also published children’s books including Carla and the Christmas Cornbread (2021) and Carla and the Tin Can Cake (2025), a heartwarming series loosely based on her childhood growing up in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition, Carla is the publisher of Sweet Heritage magazine, a twice-yearly digital publication celebrating food, culture, and personal stories.
Trey McMillan
Before getting into the oyster industry, Trey McMillan spent 15+ years carving out a successful career as a professional sportfisherman. During that time his fishing career took him up and down the East Coast and throughout Central America and the Caribbean where he brought his signature fishing style (and beard) to billfish tournaments at every stop. Despite all of the travel, Trey always kept one eye firmly on his hometown of Charleston, SC where he grew up fishing, shrimping, and crabbing in and around Mt. Pleasant’s Old Village.
During the holidays in 2015, Trey got the chance to tour an oyster farm in the Chesapeake Bay and the gears started turning. Long story short, the idea stuck and two years later Trey decided it was time for the next phase in his life. Trey founded Lowcountry Oyster Co. in late 2017 and officially started oyster sales in May of 2018.
Trey now serves as the president of The South Carolina Shellfish Growers Association, and is South Carolina’s state rep for the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association. He is also an active board member for the Coalition for Sustainable Aquaculture where he lobbies in DC for the progression of aquaculture practices.
The Lowco farm is located about 34 miles south of Charleston in the ACE Basin Wildlife Refuge. They use a sustainable, floating-cage oyster farming system to raise the oysters from 1mm seed to 3-inch single, select oysters. You can find their briny “Lowcountry Cups” on raw bars throughout the Lowcountry and the southeast all year long thanks to new regulations in South Carolina allowing for Summer oyster sales as of 2018.