Food is a huge part of my life. I'm the daughter of a chef. Over the course of 18 years, he owned two restaurants. His first one, Allister's Seafood Restaurant was right down the street from the elementary school he wanted me to attend. We lived on the East side, which would have me attending a school that wasn't as great. So, when he found the location for the first restaurant, he put it in a great part of town and used the address to allow me to register at a better school. He circumvented redlining and I'm forever grateful for the attention he paid to my education.
It was a time before social media and if we had it today, my dad would be a world-famous chef. He can cook like no other (even at 78) and his love for food knows no bounds. He can bake fresh bread, pastries, light lunches that won't weigh you down and intricate dinners that have you lingering with friends. Many of my early memories are of him and food.
I grew up in a kitchen. I learned math through measurements and my after-school snack was "family meal" with the staff. It's no surprise in college that I bartended to pay my student loans and keep me afloat—a restaurant is like a second home to me.
I've lived in Harlem for years and the beauty of NYC is to be able to support small businesses. They say you can eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at a different restaurant for five years, and there's enough in NYC that you won't have to repeat. I'm not sure if that holds true in the midst of a pandemic, but it's even more important for me to support them now.
Harlem gives NYC a neighborhood feel. You know the people around you and if you frequent places, they know your name. Even as Harlem has become popularized, it still has this homey feeling to it. It's like a warm hug in the midst of a bustling city.
I met Chef JJ when he had his restaurant, Henry, at the Life Hotel near Koreatown. He had this appetizer that served roti (my favorite food) with dip. DIP?!?! I admit it tasted delicious. The restaurant was Pan-African cuisine and he truly made the food an amalgamation of the diaspora. It was delicious.
He lives in Harlem and perfected his skills at The Cecil and Minton's (owned by Alexander Smalls). Unbeknownst to me, I was eating JJ's food for a long time before I even knew him. As Harlem neighbors, we'd run into each other whether it was working out at Orange Theory or through work functions (he's a favorite at iONE). When he opened Fieldtrip, I immediately came and brought friends. When the pandemic hit, Chef JJ was feeding our community . He's donated over 100,000 meals...yeah, that's the kind of man he is.
When the opportunity came for me to be on his show, Just Eats , I was THRILLED. It was actually my first on-camera appearance since the pandemic started. Everyone was Covid-19 tested and precautions were made to allow people to distance.
We made a traditional Southern meal of chicken fried steak, green beans, and a peach crisp.
I'd never made a peach crisp before .
It felt just like being in my dad's kitchen. Both my dad and JJ have that easy-going nature and you can tell their love for food. His wife, Mia, is a nurse. My mom is a nurse too. I've always wanted to be on a cooking show. My dad and I would watch them together growing up, he'd look at the screen, almost longingly. I wonder if he ever wanted his own show. In the 80s and 90s though, that was just a dream. He did, however, have a restaurant in one of the wealthiest towns in America. It's great to see Chef JJ and others, like Marcus Samuelsson living the reality. My dad wallked so they could run.
Definitely check out the show and if you catch my episode, tell me your thoughts! And when you are in NYC, visit Fieldtrip . Everything on the menu is purposefully under $13 and it's since expanded (in the midst of a pandemic!!!) to Rockefeller Center.
I'm proud of my friend JJ and thankful he gave me that experience. My dad was so excited for me. What's better than him having or being on a cooking show? His daughter cooking on one.
