February 3, 7:00 P.M. Dinner: An Evening Honoring Alexander Smalls
February 03, 2024 07:00 PM
A Collaborative Dinner Celebrating Alexander Smalls Featuring Chefs Carla Hall, Charlie Mitchell, Kwame Onwuachi, Erick Williams, and Pastry Chef Mame Sow
25 11th Ave, New York, NY 10011, USA
James Beard award–winning chef, restaurateur, author, and world-renowned opera singer Alexander Smalls has certainly made an indelible impact on the restaurant industry and culinary community. In honor of his tremendous contributions, the James Beard Foundation is thrilled to celebrate this culinary icon on this incredible night. For this special evening, Alexander has assembled a dream team of chef friends, which includes Carla Hall, Charlie Mitchell, Kwame Onwuachi, Erick Williams, and pastry chef Mame Sow. Together they will prepare a show-stopping five-course menu inspired by Alexander’s celebrated cookbook, Meals, Music, and Muses: Recipes from My African American Kitchen.
Please join us as we share our gratitude and pay tribute to Alexander for this monumental evening kicking off a celebration of Black History Month at Platform by JBF
Dining Table $350 | Internal Counter $375 | External Counter $300
Canapes
Kwame Onwuachi
Oxtail Patties with Mango Chutney
Charlie Mitchell
Black Peppercorn Bread with Beef Tartare
Carla Hall
Biscuits with Pimento Cheese and Cane Butter
Erick Williams
Broiled Oysters with Chili–Onion Crunch
Mame Sow
Hoppin’ John Cakes with Onion Jam
Grenada Rum Punch
MENU
Kwame Onwuachi
Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Peekytoe Crab and Salmon Roe
Truffled Deviled Eggs
Crispy Okra with Gulf Shrimp, Chilli Honey, and Jerk Barbecue Sauce
Brendel Wines Young Leon Frizzante Rose 2018
Charlie Mitchell
Salmon Croquettes with Hot Pepper and Butter
Collard Greens Stew with Koshihikari Rice
Lingua Franca Chers Ami Chardonnay 2020
Carla Hall
Deboned Fried Quail with Bourbon–Citrus Glaze
Rosemary-Spiked Mac and Cheese
The Roots Fund X Bokisch Vineyard Equilibri Red Blend 2017
Erick Williams
Glazed Beef Cheeks with Wilted Mustard Greens, Baby Turnips, and Ash-Roasted Rutabaga Purée
La Fête du Rouge Red Blend 2021
Mame Sow
Sweet Potato–Coconut Cake
Southern Pound Cake with Chocolate Chantilly Cream
Chocolate Praline–Bourbon Truffles
Bayab Gin Pineapple Gimlet
Wines curated by the Roots Fund.
Rum and cookbooks generously provided by Grenada Tourism Authority.
About Alexander Smalls:
Alexander Smalls is James Beard award–winning chef, author, raconteur, and the visionary co-owner of the renowned restaurant, Alkebulan, the first African Dining Hall in the world located in Dubai. He is the former co-owner of celebrated restaurants The Cecil and Minton’s Playhouse, located in Harlem. His award-winning restaurant, The Cecil, NYC’s first Afro-Asian American restaurant, was named “Best New Restaurant in America” by Esquire in 2014 and Smalls was the 2019 recipient of a James Beard award for his cookbook, Between Harlem and Heaven. Over the past three decades, the chef and restaurateur has traveled the world studying the cooking techniques and foodways of the African diaspora. As the former chef-owner of renowned restaurants—including Café Beulah, Sweet Ophelia’s, and Shoebox Café— Smalls has received great acclaim in the restaurant scene, with guest appearances on numerous national TV shows. Smalls has published three acclaimed cookbooks. He has two more books set to be published in 2024, including his first children's book. In addition to his vast culinary success, Smalls is also a world-renowned opera singer and the winner of both a Grammy Award and Tony Award for the cast recording of Porgy and Bess with the Houston Grand Opera.
About Carla Hall:
Chef, best-selling author, and television personality Carla Hall has been entertaining audiences with her enthusiasm for life and warm personality for years. Having spent seven years co-hosting ABC’s Emmy award winning, popular lifestyle series The Chew, Carla is featured on multiple Food Network shows and was a judge on Crazy Delicious (Netflix). She first won over audiences when she competed on Bravo’s Top Chef and Top Chef: All Stars and shared her philosophy to always cook with love.
Carla’s latest cookbook, Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, was published in 2018, landing on annual "Best Cookbook" lists across the country and receiving an NAACP Image Awards nomination. She is also the author of a children’s book, Carla and the Christmas Cornbread (Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster), a heartwarming tale inspired by her childhood.
About Charlie Mitchell:
Charlie Mitchell is the Executive Chef and owner of Clover Hill in Brooklyn Heights, New York City, and the winner of the Young Chef Award named by the Michelin Guide NY 2022. After beginning his career in his hometown of Detroit, he led as Sous Chef at Forest in Birmingham, Chef De Partie at Jônt and Executive Sous Chef at Bresca, both in Washington, D.C., and has worked and staged in a variety of other Michelin-starred kitchens, including Eleven Madison Park (NYC), Betony (NYC), Benu (San Francisco), Per Se (NYC), and Blue Hill (NYC). Clover Hill, a 34-seat eatery melding New American and French cuisine, has been awarded a Michelin star less than one year after its re-opening.
About Kwame Onwuachi:
Kwame Onwuachi is a James Beard award–winning chef, restaurateur, and author of the cookbook My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef and the critically acclaimed memoir Notes from a Young Black Chef, which is being adapted into a feature film by A24. Kwame has been named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs, Esquire Magazine’s 2019 Chef of the Year, and is a 30 Under 30 honoree by both Zagat and Forbes. He was featured on the TIME 100 Next 2019 list and has been named the most important Chef in America by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Raised in New York City, Nigeria, and Louisiana, Onwuachi was first exposed to cooking by his mother, in the family’s modest Bronx apartment. Onwuachi trained at the Culinary Institute of America and has opened five restaurants before the age of 30; including the groundbreaking Afro-Caribbean restaurant, Kith/Kin, in Washington, D.C.
His restaurant concept, Tatiana opened at the Lincoln Center in November 2022. Since its opening, Tatiana has received numerous accolades, including: the “#1 Restaurant in New York” by the New York Times, and “The One to Watch” by World's 50 Best Restaurants. In the Spring of 2024, he will partner with the Salamander DC hotel, to open his newest restaurant concept.
About Mame Sow:
Born and raised in Dakar, Senegal, chef Mame Sow moved to New York City in her early teens. She is a graduate of Park West High School where she studied under CCAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program) and ultimately garnered a scholarship to the celebrated International Culinary Center. Chef Mame’s talents have been cultivated at the Townhouse Restaurant Group under Marcus Samuelsson, including Aquavit, Riingo, and Merkato55. She’s also worked as pastry chef at luxury hotels around the country such as Hotel on Rivington, Bardessano Hotel and Spa, and SLS Hotel South Beach/ The Bazaar by José Andrés. She was the pastry chef at Spot Dessert bar when it won Best Dessert Bar NYC 2010. She worked for Alexander Smalls as pastry chef of The Cecil/Minton’s when it was named best new restaurant in the country by Esquire Magazine. She is the executive chef of Alkebulan, the world’s first African dining hall in Dubai and curator of Shoebox Cafe and Bakery.
About Erick Williams:
Erick Williams is the owner and chef at Virtue Restaurant & Bar, Mustard Seed Kitchen, Daisy’s Po-Boy and Tavern, and Top This Mac and Cheese in Chicago.
Opened in November 2018, Virtue is Williams’s first solo concept. The restaurant combines Williams’s love of Southern cuisine and his insatiable study of history and art as they relate to food culture. Williams and Virtue have been featured in a host of local and national media and in 2022 he was named Best Chef: Great Lakes by the James Beard Foundation, making history as the first Black chef to win in this category.
In November 2021, inspired by his experience providing takeout only during the pandemic, Williams opened Mustard Seed Kitchen, a takeout and delivery–only concept featuring a menu of high-quality, approachable meals. Less than a year later in August 2022, Williams’ third concept, Daisy’s Po-Boy and Tavern, which evokes the vibrancy of New Orleans through its most-celebrated sandwich, opened in Hyde Park, just steps away from Virtue. Months after Daisy’s opened, Williams collaborated with Virtue chef de cuisine Damarr Brown to open Top This, a delivery and takeout concept offering a variety of delectable mac and cheeses with delicious toppings.
Tickets to events held at Platform at Pier 57 by the James Beard Foundation cover the cost of food, education and a unique dining experience. Meals are prepared by culinary masters from all regions of the United States and around the world. Unless otherwise stated, alcoholic beverages are provided on a complimentary basis and are not included in the ticket price.
James Beard Foundation events permit guests age 21 years and older to attend events where alcoholic beverages are served.