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Shaw bijou closed8/3/2023 restaurant, Shaw Bijou, and eventually went on to cook from his heart and heritage at Kith & Kin. He opened (and quickly closed) his first D.C. The James Beard Foundation's 2019 Rising Star Chef of the Year winner went on to work in the kitchens at preeminent restaurants Eleven Madison Park and Per Se. “That’s why you’re in school today.”Ĭhef Kwame threw himself into every aspect of his educational experience, which even included entering a hot dog eating contest. “I needed to find out the ‘why’ behind what I was doing,” he said to ICE students during a recent virtual event. A failed event led him to pursue training at the Culinary Institute of America. As a late teen, he was already running his own catering company in New York City. You have to be happy.Kwame Onwuachi had an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age. You don’t have to be a fine dining chef or a caterer. There are so many aspects of the food industry. He is a strong proponent of learning by doing. He encourages those of you foodies who would love to be chefs to follow your intuition. It’s all about taking a risk and not being afraid to fail.” “It’s tough being an entrepreneur,” said the prodigious chef, who operated a successful catering company at age 20. He remains very close to his mother and sister and her kids and wants to make sure they always have everything they need. He credits Bruce Mattel, a renowned chef and professor at the Culinary Institute of America as his other mentor.Ĭhef Kwame says his dream is simple-to take care of his family. She’s my rock and my mentor,” he explained. He attributes his success to his mother, who he still calls regularly for advice on life. An alum of Eleven Madison Park, he is bringing his act to D.C. He moved on to running his own catering business while attending culinary school and had a short stint in business school. has named him a “rock star redefining the industry” for its inaugural 30 under 30 list. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park Onwuachi aims to bring a fresh perspective to the Washington D.C. At a young age, he began helping with her catering business (which she now operates in New Orleans). “I enjoy taking a walk to El Rinconcito. I love the food there.” On His Road To SuccessĬhef Kwame’s journey started with his mother. The chef’s favorite hangout is El Rinconcito Café, in northwest, a Salvadoran, tex-mex joint that serves simple fare. “My grandfather taught at Howard, and I spent many summers in this place.” He also noted that he wanted to do something outside of New York City. (Tickets are $185 per person.) On Launching in DCĬhef Kwame chose D.C. Food and libations will be customized for each diner –the ultimate in fine dining, with a cost to match. I like cooking small, interesting dishes with intimate details, making use of the opportunities I’ve been given to explore different foods.”ĭining at the Shaw Bijou will be a full multi-course experience, with diners moving through different rooms for different courses. He has traveled the world and learned about different cooking styles, which he brings to The Shaw Bijou.”I want to explore food, using all the things I learned in my travels. “You keep coming back to it it gives you comfort.” “That’s why we like the food we do,” he added. He describes this as the foundation of his style of cooking. The restaurant will feature American cuisine, enhanced with flavorful notes from the chef’s own nostalgic childhood memories of the taste of his mother’s cooking with fresh twists from other cultures. The cost is $185 per person, plus tax, service, and beverage options. Guests can purchase tickets on the restaurant website starting Aug. Serving a multi-course tasting menu Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 until 10 p.m., the restaurant will operate on a ticket-based reservation system. The 32-seat Shaw Bijou (bijou means ‘jewel’ in French)– is housed in a beautifully restored Italianate-style row house in the historic Shaw neighborhood. He is busy working on the final details necessary to open his restaurant on November 1. Many of you may recognize the renowned 26-year-old master chef as the survivor of 10 of 13 episodes of Top Chef, a popular cooking show on Bravo.Ĭhef Kwame is from The Bronx and is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in NYC, where he got his classical training in French cuisine. “When a dish has a story, it has a soul,” he says. Chef Kwame Onwuachi’s philosophy about food is that it should tell a story.
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