![]() ![]() JP: These days are you always getting asked questions about race? Do you think this will always be the case? (Jennifer Chase/The New York Times) Jennifer Chase / New York Times Now he’s drawing attention with a new book and approach. ![]() Chef Kwame Onwuachi vaulted from troubled youth to overnight success to failure with a fancy restaurant in Washington, D.C. Lunch at Kith and Kin in Washington, April 1, 2019. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. While in town, he sat down with The Chronicle and discussed race, family, media and navigating a new level of fame. Onwuachi was in Berkeley on May 4 for the Bay Area Book Festival. But his name is ringing in the industry right now because of his memoir, “Notes From a Young Black Chef,” where Onwuachi writes about his childhood and dissects racial barriers in fine dining, some of which he encountered in his own career. Onwuachi is currently the executive chef of Kith and Kin in Washington, D.C., a homey Afro-Caribbean restaurant where his work earned him a nomination from the James Beard Foundation for this year’s Rising Star Chef of the Year. That same year, he opened the doors to Shaw Bijou in Washington, D.C., an ambitious restaurant where the tasting menu cost $185 per person, only to close a few months later. ![]() In 2016, Onwuachi appeared on season 13 of Top Chef, a stint that earned him national attention. He used the money to fund a catering business, eventually making his way to the kitchens of fine-dining restaurants like Per Se and Eleven Madison Park. For the uninitiated, Onwuachi jump-started his culinary career by selling candy on the subway when he was in his early 20s. ![]()
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