![]() And that spotlight means one thing: The restaurant's triumphs and flaws are getting plenty of airtime. When The Shaw Bijou opened this fall, it instantly turned into one of D.C.'s places to be. Speaking of which: When you open a restaurant that charges $185 for a tasting menu and you ask diners to buy tickets in advance (and where dinner can reach $500 a head, all in), you're setting yourself up for pushback. ![]() “It’s something I’d like to see more people doing - myself included.Catch up on Top Chef on Peacock or the Bravo App. “If that means tearing things down and building them back up, then that’s what that means,” Onwuachi said. That means opening up access to health care, paid time off, and maternity leave for restaurant workers. ![]() He also doesn’t want to just do what he’s done before, or to go back to the old way of how restaurants have long operated. “It needs to find out how to feed people whether people can afford to be there or not.” “I think a restaurant should be an anchor of the community,” he said. H e hopes diners will continue to support their local restaurants, as well as those outside their zip codes, and that support for Black- and minority-owned restaurants continues.Īnd Onwuachi’s idea of what defines a successful restaurant has changed, too. “It let me know that in order for us to really see some change in the future we need to invest in our youth. “In talking to them I’m trying to be hopeful that things are getting better and more people who look like us will want to or try to achieve their wildest dreams,” he said. ![]() The personal stories of Black chefs like Peter Prime, Nina Compton, and Edouardo Jordan have inspired Onwuachi, too. That realization came full circle for me in this pandemic.” It’s not for four stars or anything like that. “We forget why we get into this industry,” he said of the experience. But you know, right now, that’s why I’m taking some time to really figure out what this restaurant group that I open is going to look like so it’s an equitable experience or opportunity for the next generation.”Īs he puts it, the pandemic has been a “reflective and eye-opening experience.” In April, while Kith/Kin was closed, he cooked meals at Mott Haven Bar and Grill in the Bronx as part of The Bronx Community Relief Effort and World Central Kitchen’s efforts to feed locals affected by COVID-19. Sometimes those things do go hand in hand, you know, getting that platform, getting those awards. “Providing for my family, spending time with my family, inspiring the next generation, providing opportunities for the next generation. “Right now, thinking about getting an award for cooking isn’t really, just being transparent, at the top of the list of priorities for me,” he said. The ambition is still there, but it’s shifted now. Last year, in a piece for Food & Wine, he wrote, “I don’t know about anyone else but if there is another level to achieve, I inherently want to reach for it.” It’s what has always pushed him forward, whether he was selling candy on the subway or launching his own catering company at the age of 20. “All those things are ownership for me.”Īnyone who has read Onwuachi’s book knows how much ambition has shaped him. Having control over my own narrative,” he said. His resignation from Kith/Kin took many by surprise, but for Onwuachi, the departure was spurred by his desire for ownership. I know I have a job to do to continue to advocate and make sure that everyone feels included in the conversation and that they can achieve it if they put their minds to it.”Īnd he wants to do it on his terms. “There are not a lot of chefs who have achieved the accolades that I have who look like me. “I feel like people have been appreciative of the vulnerability and happy that there’s a story out there that’s not just this Cinderella story from point A to point B,” he said.īut now, Onwuachi knows that people aren’t just following him, they’re also looking to him, too. Whether we know him from his appearance as a “Top Chef” contestant, his restaurants (the short-lived French tasting menu restaurant, Shaw Bijou fast-casual cheesesteak concept Philly Wing Fry and critically acclaimed Kith/Kin), or his James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef, Onwuachi has never been afraid to share both his successes and his failures with us. ![]() With each of these endeavors, Onwuachi, 30, is keenly aware that people both inside and outside the restaurant industry are following him. ![]()
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