Chef Marcus Samuelsson discusses how Black cooks have played a major role in shaping the landscape of America’s culinary culture.

Money Making Conversations Master Class

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer interviewed Chef Marcus Samuelsson.

When you hear someone utter the words “Culinary History of America”, the phrase “Black Excellence” is not the first thing that comes to mind. While Black cooks have played a major role in shaping the landscape of America’s culinary culture, their history and accomplishments continue to be told in the dark, underrecognized by the wider world. Well, here to shed some light on this hidden history is Red Rooster’s very own Head Chef, Chef Marcus Samuelsson, through his book, The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food: A Cookbook. Make sure to bring your good eating pants and your academia caps to this episode of Money Making Conversations Master Class as we do a deep dive into the culinary history of America and the role that the African diaspora played in shaping it.

The James Beard award-winning chef says his flagship restaurant, Red Rooster, became his "haven" during the height of pandemic. Working with José Andrés' World Central Kitchen organization, Samuelsson converted the restaurant to a community kitchen. Over the course of six months, Red Rooster served more than 200,000 meals to first responders and others in need.

"It was a place for me when our world was so ripped apart and no one knew what to do," he says.

Samuelsson says feeding the community during the pandemic also changed the way he thought about his industry. "The word 'restaurant' actually means to restore your community. And in the worst of times, I think that the restaurant, the hospitality industry really stepped up," he says.

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