IN-PERSON PROGRAM*
*with virtual option
Join us as we honor the immense culinary contributions of James Hemings, the enslaved chef of Thomas Jefferson who trained in Paris and brought his proficiency in French cooking and a trove of recipes back to Monticello.
Our evening will include a screening of a portion of the documentary film, *James Hemings: Ghost in America’s Kitchen, followed by a panel discussion with James Hemings Society Founder Ashbell McElveen and members Therese Nelson, Tonya Hopkins, and Heather Johnston.
Mac & Cheese bites from Collective Fare and sparkling wine, courtesy of Good Wine NYC will be served in commemoration of the enduring legacy of James Hemings.
* James Hemings: Ghost in America’s Kitchen is executive produced and written by Ashbell McElveen and directed by Anthony Werhun.
This is an in-person event. You must show photo ID and proof of COVID vaccine to attend this event.
Photo Credit: Johnny Shryock
TONYA HOPKINS
Tonya, a.k.a “The Food Griot” is a Culinary Historian & Nonfiction Storyteller, Cocktail Cognoscente and Creator/Host of “The Food Griot Shows” sharing inclusive stories behind “The Makings of America’s Cuisines & Culinary Scenes”. She helped cofound the nonprofit James Hemings Society with Chef Ashbell Mcelveen to uphold timeless Black culinary creativity that greatly influenced the development of American fine dining. Tonya’s an active Advisor on the Museum of Food & Drink’s (MOFAD) exhibition “African/American: Making the Nation’s Table”; she served as foremost food historian for best-selling Celebrity Chef cookbook “Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration” and for Harlem Hops, the nation’s first 100% Black-owned Beer Bar/Restaurant. Tonya was the first/only food historian showcased on the long-running iconic ABC daily show “The Chew”; she teaches wine education at a Black woman-owned boutique wine shop in Brooklyn (Good Wine) and serves as lead Culinary History Advisor for the Old Stone House of Brooklyn. At present Tonya produces and hosts the weekly multi-media show “Savory & Sweet: Food History & Culture” on WURDRadio.com: Progressive Black Talk Media — one of just a stark few Black-owned and operated talk radio stations in the nation.
Photo credit: V. Sheree Williams
HEATHER JOHNSTON
Before her foray into wine retail, Heather Johnston had already had her first taste of working in the food and wine industry as a chef and writer. The owner of Good Wine in Brooklyn, New York, Johnston is a seasoned food and wine writer and one of the earliest Google Channel Partners with her YouTube cooking channel, SoGoodTV.
ASHBELL MCELVEEN
Ashbell McElveen was born into a South Carolina family that thought good food was a birthright. Uncovering the roots of southern American foodways and the preservation of his and other families’ treasured recipes is both his mission and his passion.
At age 19, Chef Ashbell went to France for a year of academic study. Hungry for hands-on experience in the kitchens of Paris, he stayed an extra year working in restaurants, learning French regional cookery. After completing his undergraduate study in the U.S.A., Chef Ashbell promptly returned to France. He attended La Sorbonne during the academic year and spent summers working in more restaurants, including Haynes, Paris’ famous soul food restaurant started by Leroy Haynes.
In the 1990’s, Chef Ashbell became a regular on WNBC’s Weekend Today Show, where he cooked the foods of New York City’s melting pot, championing the cuisine of immigrant populations that had been previously ignored by mainstream network television.
Chef Ashbell created the James Hemings Foundation in 2014 to study, document, educate, and preserve African Americans’ contributions to American iconic food and drink. He is currently writing a book and screenplay on the life of James Hemings.
THERESE NELSON
Therese Nelson is a chef, writer, and founder of BlackCulinaryHistory.com, a social network and digital archive she started in 2008 as a way to preserve black heritage throughout the African culinary diaspora, to celebrate and network black chefs globally, and to steward modern Black foodways into this next generation.
THE AFRICA CENTER
The Africa Center is transforming the world’s understanding of Africa, its Diaspora and the role of people of African descent in the world. Serving as the hub for the exchange of ideas around culture, business, and policy related to the continent, and in the spirit of collaboration and engagement with individuals and institutions who share the Center’s values, The Africa Center inspires enthusiasm, and advances thought and action around Africa’s global influence and impact on our collective and shared futures.