ORLANDO – Orange County Library System will host chef and author Kwame Onwuachi at a Meet the Author event on Sunday, February 19. From 2–3 p.m., Onwuachi will discuss his first cookbook, My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef, which showcases the diversity of American food. A book sale and signing provided by local independent bookstore Kizzy’s Books & More will follow the event.
Onwuachi is the James Beard Award-winning former executive chef at Kith/Kin and owner of the Philly Wing Fry franchise in Washington, D.C. He was born on Long Island and raised in New York City, Nigeria and Louisiana. Onwuachi was first exposed to cooking by his mother in the kitchen of the family’s modest Bronx apartment, sparking a passion that he shaped into a career in fine dining. He trained at the Culinary Institute of America and had opened five restaurants before turning 30. A former Top Chef contestant, he has been named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs and a 30 Under 30 honoree by both Zagat and Forbes.
Onwuachi’s first book, Notes from a Young Black Chef, tells the remarkable story of his culinary coming-of-age and details his experiences with the intersection of race, fame and food. His latest book, and first cookbook, is My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef, which features over 125 recipes that explore the food of the African diaspora through his own family history. My America is a catalog of recipes and experiences that adds Onwuachi’s answer to the question of what American food really can be.
For more information on Onwuachi, visit prhspeakers.com. For details on this Meet the Author event at Orlando Public Library, visit attend.ocls.info/event/7049976.
