Bringing everyone to the table with Chef Adrienne Cheatham

In this bonus episode of the Afros and Knives podcast in collaboration with For the Culture Magazine, host Tiffani Rozier chats with Chef Adrienne Cheatham about her new cookbook, Sunday Best. The full interview is available to the For the Culture patreon community--to hear every moment of this interview and to get access to the transcript head over to www.patreon.com/FortheCultureMagazine

Chef Adrienne grew up in the kitchens and dining rooms of restaurants her mother managed in Chicago, Illinois. She would help with busing tables, running food, washing dishes, and whatever was needed, after homework was finished. At her parents’ insistence, she went to college before pursuing her culinary ambitions, attending Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida, where she studied business and journalism.

Adrienne went on to work with Marcus Samuelsson as the Chef de Cuisine of the Marcus Samuelsson Group, opening Streetbird, where she received a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin Guide, and Marcus’ Bermuda before being promoted to Executive Chef at Red Rooster. Adrienne has also traveled extensively with Chef Marcus for demonstrations, appearances, and festivals. Adrienne curated special tasting menus, including the Black History Month menu at Red Rooster, a multi-course menu inspired by female African-American chefs in the industry. When planning the Red Rooster Cookbook, Marcus tapped Adrienne to test and edit the recipes as well as cook/style all food that was photographed for the book.

Adrienne competed on season 15 of Top Chef, making it all the way to the finale and finishing second. She has been featured as a speaker at Cherry Bombe Magazine’s annual Jubilee festival and was the subject of a New York Times documentary series titled “Tastemakers.” Passionate about nutrition, she works with Schwan’s as part of the Chef’s Collective to develop healthy food for school lunch programs. Adrienne has appeared in Food & Wine, US Weekly, Sports Illustrated online, People, Grubstreet, Eater, AM New York, among others. Adrienne shares a home in Harlem with her best friend and husband, Stephen Bailey. She is also the founder of SundayBest, a pop-up series held in secret locations around Harlem.

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