Book Review: “Notes From A Young Black Chef”

Kwame Onwuachi’s life story unfolds in a whirlwind of events that each seem to upstage the last in his memoir, Notes From A Young Black Chef.

From being sent to a remote Nigerian village to “learn respect” as a teenager, to opening and tragically closing a high profile restaurant in the nation’s capital, the young chef has experienced a lifetime of events in his 27 years.

Kwame brilliantly leads us through the highs and lows of his life, making a pit stop at every pivotal moment that led to where he is now. He incorporates the soul-searching he grappled with in his youth that inspires young readers to discover who they are and where they come from. With the influences of African American, Cajun, Jamaican, and Nigerian cuisines in his life, Kwame learned to weave his story into a menu at his restaurant, the Shaw Bijou.

Being black had a significant impact on Kwame and the challenges he faced breaking into the world of fine-dining. From being ignored in the upscale kitchens he worked in to facing harassment from racist business partners, he has had to fight an uphill battle most of his life. Sometimes, he had to play into stereotypes he hated, such as when he was pressured to make soul food while participating in Top Chef. Other times, he stood up for his identity such as when he rejected an offer to open a high end fried chicken restaurant just because he was black.

Although Kwame has had a lot of successes, he is not shy to be transparent about his failures. In the closing story of the memoir, Kwame describes in eloquent detail the complicated, confusing emotions he felt after his restaurant shut down. As we root for him throughout the book, we also learn from his mistakes and try to replicate that self-awareness in our own selves.

Coming away from this book, I am inspired to hustle harder, as Kwame hustled selling candy bars in the subway as a teen, and to pursue cooking in a more professional way, as Kwame did when he left his catering company to enroll in the Culinary Institute of America. I might not be as pursuant of a career in cooking as Kwame is, but I will attempt to discover the food that defines my identity and share it with the world.

Kwame’s book also comes sprinkled with delightful recipes throughout that are near to his heart and not too complicated to try at home!

Find his book here.