The Black Chefs of The $600-Billion Dollar Industry

Sylvia is not alone in her endeavors or entrepreneurial spirit. There are popular soul food establishments in most major U.S. cities, bulwarks against gentrification. They serve down-home, finger-licking cuisine whipped up by short-order black cooks.  There are also upscale, linen-napkin, chicken-and-waffle joints, where you are perhaps as likely to see an Asian or white cook as a black one.

Industry experts point out that the majority of black cooks are “corporate contract feeders.”

“If you start looking at fine dining in New York and San Francisco and Chicago, you are not going to see many African Americans at all,” said Jason Wallace, owner of Hospitality Concepts LLC and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. He is also chairman of the New York Restaurant Association. He gave up kitchen work to run a consulting business.

“Restaurants are very demanding places to work,” he added. “If you’re willing to put in the hours and pay your dues, there’s opportunities in the food service industry.  It’s up to the individual’s goals and objectives and their own tenacity.”

In the end, relatively few blacks become head chefs. “I know of less than 20 establishments that have black executive chefs in New York City,” he said.

Most successful black chefs end up opening their own restaurants, he noted. “In order to be an executive chef, most black chefs are probably going to take their destiny in their own hands.” But this requires well-honed business savvy.

“You have to have some level of business understanding and knowledge, and most chefs are blue collar by nature, and hands-on, physically working in the kitchen,” notes Wallace.  “They get emotional about their food.

“Business is another skill set — the ability to analyze, conceptualize and evaluate. Not a lot of chefs can do this. It’s about access to capital, investors, and real estate.  It’s not a culinary challenge as much as it is a business and a retooling of themselves.  Many chefs are great cooks but horrible managers. At the end of the day, I don’t care how good your soup is, but is your soup profitable?”

Marketing genius have turned a few black chefs into veritable household names. Gerry Garvin, a black celebrity chef, has his own TV show, “Turn Up the Heat with Chef G. Garvin.” He has parleyed his fame into cooking apparel, books, and spices.  He reaches out to at-risk inner-city youth via his Culinary Boot Camp, where 16-19 year olds learn to slice, dice and prepare meals in an intensive five-day cooking course, aimed at preparing them for jobs in food service.  The camp is an innovative way to bring fresh talent into the kitchen, and jumpstart careers.

Bernard Carmouche’s genius in the kitchen may be putting the “BAM!” into Emeril Lagasse’s empire.  Bernard is Emeril’s number one guy,” said Samuelsson, “and in restaurant revenue that’s probably a $150 million organization.” Samuelsson named Chef Bernard as one of the black chefs he most admires.

Bernard began his kitchen career as a pot washer in a New Orleans restaurant. Today, he is chef de cuisine for Lagasse’s cooking empire, which includes cookbooks, TV and radio shows, kitchen products, restaurants and sports bars.