a seat of the table
2 Houston star chefs launch innovative African/African American dinner series
As passionate diners now, Houston has no shortage of culinary diversity; from end to end, diners can food representing nearly every continent and culinary style on Earth. And, in a city like ours, where dining out is the unofficial (or official?) sport, Houstonians love celebrating those different styles and the chefs who create them.
Into this mix comes a carefully curated culinary experience, the brainchild of chef Keisha Griggs and Kulture’s Marcus Davis. Kulture: A Black Chef Table launches in mid-July at Kulture's downtown location.
The series of multi-course dinners will highlight African/African American food purveyors and chefs identifying as Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).
Each chef will create a menu from seasonal ingredients provided by African/African-American purveyors, and share their personal story with guests. Griggs and Davis are actively soliciting applications from chefs for the events.
“Kulture: A Black Chef Table is dedicated to supporting the diverse culinary landscape and the vast spirit, wine, beer makers, and black-owned food purveyors by providing a space to cultivate, incubate and promote talent,” said Griggs in a press release announcing the series launch. “It will provide an opportunity to BIPOC gastro artists to showcase their talents and illustrate their culinary perspective on the national platform.”
Already committed are Fresh Life Organic, Plant it Forward Farms, Ivy Leaf Farms, and PP Farming Company.
Diners can expect menus that showcase the richness of African food and African influences in global cuisine, as those food traditions spread across the Atlantic from Africa to and through the Caribbean, Asia, Spain, Mexico, and the Americas. Presented in a setting that allows for the sharing of stories along with dishes from a rotating cast of chefs, the Black Chef Table experience is one diners should find both exciting and approachable.
“Ujamaa — the principle of cooperative economics — has long been the foundation upon which we’ve built the offerings of our family of brands,” said Davis in the same press release. “Collaborating with Chef Griggs to present Black Chef Table is a natural extension of that work. We want to utilize our platform to highlight the ever-growing landscape of Black culinarians in a way that acknowledges our contribution to world cuisine, leverages our buying power, and benefits our economy.”
Details on how to purchase seats for the events will be coming soon on the Black Chef Table official website.
