Americans spent more than $1.6 trillion on food last year. That translates into millions of opportunities for the people who grow, produce, prepare, and sell all that food.
According to the National Restaurant Association, industry sales are expected to reach a record $604 billion this year with the average chef/owner expecting to make $80,000 to $85,000. Executive chefs make slightly less on average, but those who are vaulted into the rarefied air of celebrity chefs can pull in seven or eight figures from television series, cookbook advances, appearances, and endorsements.
In food, even the trends are big business. Cupcakes are a $6 billion industry estimates Paula Spencer, author of Start a Cupcake Business Today. And a good food truck grosses $1,000 a day, according to Wafels and Dinges founder Thomas DeGeest.
The bottom line is this: There are as many ways for professionals and entrepreneurs with a passion for food to make a living doing what they love as there are variations of red velvet cake. With all that money–and good food–to be made, we wanted to highlight African Americans who are finding success in the industry–some as chefs and restaurateurs, but many in roles you may never have considered. So pull up a chair and dig in.
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The Vegan
Tracye McQuirter, a vegetarian for the past 24 years, is a public health nutrition expert, public policy advocate, and author of the best-selling By Any Greens Necessary.
The Bloggers
Monique Kilgore started blogging as a way to collect her family recipes, but her part-time hobby has turned into Divas Can Cook (www.divascancook.com), a website that teaches old-school cooking to modern women. “Almost everything on my site is handmade from scratch. That’s my niche: bringing that back,†she says. Kilgore’s currently working on a hardcover cookbook–she’s already self-published an e-cookbook of the blog’s recipes–and a signature spice blend to be sold on her site.
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The Bloggers (continued)
Chef and Steward Lij and Kari Heron
www.chefandsteward.com
My Life Runs on Food
Sanura Weathers
www.blog.sanuraweathers.com
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THE CELEBRITY CHEF
He has prepared a state dinner for President Barack Obama and won the second season of Top Chef Masters, but those who have followed Marcus Samuelsson‘s career know there’s more to the culinary star. The Ethiopia-born, Gothenburg, Sweden-raised chef has also hosted cooking shows, written cookbooks, designed a high-end range for BlueStar and footwear for MOZO, and signed deals with MasterCard, Macy’s, and American Airlines. He owns a restaurant in Sweden, with plans to open another there in 2012. And stateside, the Harlem resident owns three restaurants, including Red Rooster, which opened in the neighborhood late last year.
The Harlem restaurant was “a great opportunity to tell our tale as people of color,†Samuelsson says. “What would be better than the most iconic location for African American culture than Harlem? And then with that, I wanted to be on the most iconic street, Lenox Avenue and 125th Street.â€
But before getting to that celebrated location, Samuelsson had to learn a few things. While only in his 20s, he became co-owner and executive chef of New York City’s Aquavit, a Scandinavian restaurant that existed years before he moved to the States. That didn’t happen by chance. When he arrived in the U.S. in 1995, he contacted three people: Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman, and Hakan Swahn, the owner of Aquavit, who eventually became his business partner. “Whether I knew them or not, that’s how I function,†Samuelsson explains. “I believed that I can work very hard and I can add something. So I thought, ‘Well, if they partner with me, it’s good for them.’ I just needed one to get back to me.†Swahn and Samuelsson have since created Townhouse Restaurant Group, a New York City-based restaurant management and consulting company.
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The common ingredient of the restaurants he has opened in the last four years–the others are August in New York City; Marc Burger in Chicago and Costa Mesa, California; and Street Food in Stockholm–is respect for the customer. “People evolve, so a restaurant has to evolve. We’re continually listening to customers and what they want.â€
Part of that listening now involves social media. “When I started in the business, it was traditional media that counted. Today, everyone gives you a review,†thanks to Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp, says Samuelsson, who has more than 27,000 followers on Twitter and another 26,000 fans on Facebook. He says a mix of communication via e-mail, written letters, or face-to-face conversation is important. “People want to be touched. People want to be spoken to.â€
Humility, hard work, and passion are essential qualities for breaking into the business, Samuelsson says. And respect for the past can ensure a solid future. “I cook here successfully because Sylvia [Woods, owner of Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem] has cooked 50 years before me here,†he notes. People of color need to have a broader view of the business, though. “We always cook. We always serve. There’s also a business in it, and we’re not there as a whole.â€
Toward that end, Samuelsson has been investing in the community. About 70% of Red Rooster’s staff lives in Harlem. “I have to work hard to really get that,†explains the restaurateur, who also offers free cooking classes–both with the objective of nurturing future owners and chefs from the neighborhood. “This is not a gimmick. This is my life. This is where I live.â€
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THE CELEBRITY RESTAURATEURS
When Chris “Ludacris†Bridges purchased a property in downtown Atlanta, the entertainer was just looking to rent out the space. But after meeting Singaporean chef Chris Yeo at a Ludacris Foundation event, the two partnered and opened Straits Atlanta in 2007. While most restaurants fail within their first year, Straits has thrived. “It’s been some of the greatest years of my life,†says Bridges. “I love to be able to provide a service for people in a city that I’m passionate about.â€
B. Smith: B. Smith’s in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Sag Harbor, New York
Michael Jordan: Michael Jordan’s Steak House in Chicago, New York City, and Uncasville, Connecticut; one sixtyblue in Chicago; Michael Jordan’s 23.sportcafe and SolToro Tequila Grill in Uncasville, Connecticut
Gladys Knight: Gladys Knight and Ron Winans’ Chicken & Waffles in Atlanta, and Lithonia, Georgia; Gladys Knight’s Chicken & Waffles Bistro in Union City, Georgia
Jay-Z: 40/40 Club in New York City and Atlantic City, New Jersey
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THE ACTIVIST
For the past 10 years, Bryant Terry has been battling the structural inequalities that exist in our nation’s food system; advocating for better access to fresh, local foods; and trying to reverse the prevalence of food-related illnesses in our communities. First through
nonprofit work and now through cookbooks–his third, The Inspired Vegan, comes out in January–Terry is trying to get blacks to reclaim our culinary heritage and reconnect to real food.
THE FARMERS
Fourth-generation farmers Thomas Roque Jr., 30, and his brother Todd, 26, were milking cows and working on the family ranch before they were old enough to talk. Their 95-year-old family business sits on 800 acres of land in Cane River, Louisiana, purchased by their great-great grandparents, Emmitte and Cecile. Today they raise about 500 calves; plant and bale hay; and pick, clean, and bag more than 200 pounds of pecans from their 600 trees each season.
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THE CHIEF EXECUTIVES
Steven A. Davis
Chairman and CEO of Bob Evans Farms Inc.
Clarence Otis Jr.
Chairman and CEO of Darden Restaurants Inc.
Don Thompson
President and Chief Operating Officer of McDonald’s Corp.
James D. White
Chairman, President, and CEO of Jamba Juice Co.
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THE PIE KING
Banker-turned-executive pastry chef Alan Carter, who co-owns Mission Beach Café in San Francisco, has won acclaim for his sweet and savory pies, especially the crust.
THE CULTURAL AMBASSADOR
Marja Vongerichten‘s personal journey is as amazing as her culinary one. Born in Korea to a Korean mother and African American father, she was then adopted and raised in America, and several years later married famous French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. So she knows the power food holds as a gateway to understanding an entire culture. It’s a journey she shares with audiences through her PBS series Kimchi Chronicles, which explores the Korean cuisine Vongerichten has come to love since reuniting with her birth mother at 19.
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THE CONSULTANT
Alex Askew, president of culinary diversity organization BCAGlobal, has conducted food research and development for companies such as General Mills, Hilton hotels, and Aramark.
THE RAW FOODIE
Karyn Calabrese has built an empire in Chicago with three restaurants serving raw, vegan, or conscious foods and also a home-delivery meal program.
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THE LOCAVORE
Chef Govind Armstrong, owner of 8 oz. Burger Bar in Los Angeles and Miami, is known for California-style cuisine based on fresh ingredients from local farms.
THE GENERAL MANAGER
Michael Smith, a Food Network veteran, is the general manager of Scripps Networks’Cooking Channel, overseeing its programming and marketing since its launch in 2010.
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THE CAKE LADY
Amy Hilliard, a former senior marketing executive, founded the ComfortCake Co. in 2001 and now sells her poundcake through national retail outlets such as Walmart and HSN.
THE TV STAR
Gerry Garvin, known for TV One’s Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin, hosted the primetime special Georgia Roadtrip with G. Garvin on the Cooking Channel this fall.
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THE POWER COUPLE
If you’ve never heard of Pat and Gina Neely, you either don’t watch television or you don’t eat! When Down Home with the Neelys premiered in 2008, it became the highest-rated series debut in the history of Food Network’s In the Kitchen weekend block.
The show made instant stars of the dynamic couple, whose brand and businesses have exploded in its wake. Funny and flirtatious, they’ve won the hearts of foodies everywhere, and remain one of very few African Americans on the cable network. An estimated 5 million viewers tune in to watch them each week.Z
Filmed in their 8,500-square-foot Memphis, Tennessee, home, the show continues to be a top ratings performer. The couple has a multiyear endorsement deal with Kraft and still helps run the company Pat launched with his brothers 20 years ago, which now includes three restaurants in Tennessee, a catering business, several concessions, and sales of their eponymous sauces and spices online and in stores nationwide, including Walmart.
2011 has been a big year for the Neelys. In July, they opened Neely’s Barbecue Parlor in New York City, offering something rare in the Big Apple: centrally located Southern cuisine served in comfortable, upscale surroundings, complete with several small dining rooms, a large open bar area, and a cigar lounge on the lower level. Lest patrons forget where they are as they devour signature offerings such as candied bacon or beer can chicken, several large screens play the Neelys’ show nonstop. There’s even one playing to passersby just outside the front door.
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Despite mixed reviews from critics and bloggers, the restaurant has been consistently packed and the Neelys, who partnered with Merchants Hospitality Inc.–a restaurant management company with 10 other properties–seem undaunted by their first foray
into business north of the Mason-Dixon Line. “We were approached by various organizations about doing restaurants in different cities,†Pat says. “But it had to be the right fit. Our partners here fit like a glove. From the top to the bottom, they are very passionate about everything from the décor to the quality of the food.†The Neelys have spent a lot of time in New York, where Food Network is based, and Pat, who went to work at his uncle Jim’s barbecue restaurant at 15 years old, brings a seasoned veteran’s confidence and his infectious passion to the process.The Neely’s 220-seat, bi-level space is a long way from Pat’s original foray into business–a small shop in Memphis with a few tables and chairs and one barbecue pit launched with three of his brothers and $20,000 borrowed from their 94-year-old grandmother. The business had grown and was thriving by the time Gina and Pat were discovered at their Nashville location during a shoot for another Food Network show, Road Tasted with Bobby and Jamie Deen, sons of food star Paula Deen. “I always tell people we didn’t go looking for television,†says Pat. “Television found us.â€
With their first cookbook reaching No. 8 on The New York Times Best Sellers list, the Neelys are preparing to embark on a 16-city tour to promote their just-released second book, The Neelys’ Celebration Cookbook: Down-Home Meals for Every Occasion, and they are reflecting on the blessings and challenges of their success. “You have to be ready for the opportunity,†says Gina. “Oftentimes we’ll want [something], but we don’t really want to do the work that it takes to have it. You can want it, want it, want it, but you’ve got to work!†The Neelys insist that their true power is rooted in two simple things: love (for each other, God, and what they do), and a work ethic that never quits. As restaurateurs for more than 20 years, they say these keys to their success existed long before anyone outside of their hometown of Memphis ever heard of them, and are what keep them grounded now that seemingly everyone has.
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THE HISTORIAN
Dr. Jessica B. Harris, professor, journalist, and author of 12 cookbooks, has been writing and lecturing about the food of the African diaspora for more than three decades.
THE SPA GURU
Conscious Cuisine is not just the name of former spa chef Cary Neff‘s first cookbook, it’s also his award-winning cooking philosophy: Enjoy foods that are good for you and taste good too. He developed it in 1995 as executive chef at the Miraval resort and spa in Tucson, Arizona, before going on to become executive chef at the world-renowned La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California. Neff is now vice president of Culinary Corporate at Morrison Management and president of Pear Restaurant Group L.L.C., a restaurant consulting and management company with seven locations.
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THE REALITY STARS
Kevin Sbraga, who won the seventh season of Bravo’s Top Chef and $125,000 last year, opened his own restaurant, named Sbraga, in Philadelphia last month.
Three years ago Aaron McCargo Jr. won season four of The Next Food Network Star to get his own show on the network, Big Daddy’s House.
THE TEACHER
Holding office hours and preparing lesson plans are things all teachers do. But how many can say they taught ice carving or sauce making? That’s how Kevin Mitchell, chef instructor at the Culinary Institute of Charleston, spends his days. “I’ve worked in many different aspects of the industry, but now I have the opportunity to train future chefs,†says Mitchell, who is in his third year of preparing the next generation–16 students at a time–through culinary arts and regional cuisine classes.
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THE FOOD TRUCKS
Darryl King faced a tough crowd when he decided to open a street barbecue business in Phoenix. “Everyone is from a different place; they want what they want,†he says of citizens’ cravings for familiar smoked and smothered meats. With a $25,000 investment and hands-on construction of his portable food trailer, King started Taste Rite (www.rite waycatering.com), which serves a menu of “out-of-the-box smoked meats†with multicultural flavors, and the tastes from back home–no matter where home may be.
O’Neil Reid
The Jamaican Dutchy, New York
Alex Vault
Mossie Lee’s Southern Cuisine, Los Angeles
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THE BE100s
Fair Oaks Farms L.L.C. (No. 16 on the BE industrial/service companies list with $256 million in revenues)
Baldwin Richardson Foods Co. (No. 26 on the BE industrial/service
companies list with $156 million in revenues)
Brooks Food Group (No. 35 on the BE industrial/service companies list with $100.7 million in revenues)
New Horizons Baking Co. (No. 54 on the BE industrial/service companies list with $71.3 million in revenues)
All American Meats Inc. (No. 78 on the BE industrial/service companies list with $41 million in revenues)
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THE CUPCAKE QUEENS
In 2009 Shaunda Lohse, just out of a shelter after separating from her husband and using ingredients bought with food vouchers, baked her first from-scratch cupcake for her sister’s birthday. She sold two dozen of that batch to her neighbor for $30 and has been selling treats ever since. Her cupcake lounge, Sugar on Top in State College, Pennsylvania, turned a profit after 14 months. “People say, ‘You can taste the love in your cupcakes,’ and I say, ‘Thank you, that was my intention.’
Andra Hall
CamiCakes, Atlanta
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THE CUPCAKE QUEENS (Continued)
Millie Peartree
Millie Peartree Cupcakes & More, New York City
Catarah Hampshire & Shoneji Robison
Southern Girl Desserts, Los Angeles
Additional reporting by Caroline V. Clarke, Joel Lyons, Sonja Mack, Anslem Samuel, LaToya M. Smith and Malecia S. Walker
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