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Miami Herald

‘It was not easy': Black women chefs share challenges and triumphs ahead of The Cookout

Kia Damon remembers when she became executive chef at a restaurant and one of the employees didn't want to work with her. The owner told her that the employee was just an older man who was set in his ways and working with a young Black woman made him uncomfortable. The advice she was given: 'figure it out and navigate it.' Damon, who grew up in Orlando, said her beginnings were tough despite becoming an executive chef at a restaurant in New York City at age 24. She even won an episode of Food Network's 'Chopped,' but it still stings to recall what she had to endure. 'It was hard because I just couldn't understand why [being a Black woman] mattered to anyone,' she said. 'I was like, 'I'm good at what I do. I'm good. I got young bones, I got energy, like, I'm hungry.'' Damon's experience highlights the challenges Black women face in the male-dominated industry where Black people in leadership roles are underrepresented. In 2022, only 12.5 percent of chefs and head cooks were Black, according to data culled by Data USA from the U.S. Census. The lack of representation of Black women in the culinary space is why JJ Johnson, the James Beard Award-winning cook book author, chef and co-founder of South Beach Wine & Food Festival's annual event, The Cookout, has been trying to push for more Black women at the event. This year he reached out to Damon. 'It was great for me to tap into her and get her,' he said. Damon, 32, is one of two Black women participating in The Cookout, taking place on Saturday at the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach, which highlights Black chefs from South Florida. Now in its third year, Johnson said the goal is to have an even number of men and women at next year's event. The event has become popular since it was added to the food festival in 2023, including such names as Oneil Blake of Nobu Eden Roc Hotel Miami Beach and Amaris Jones of Chick'N Jones. Still, Johnson said, there is room to grow. 'The hope is to grow the cookout in Miami to be at a very large scale, so you can get a robust amount of food and flavor, but it really represents the people of that region,' Johnson said. Open the door and keep it open Finding Black women chefs to lead restaurants isn't as much of a challenge as some make it to be, Red Rooster Overtown founder and host of the food festival's Overtown Gospel Brunch, Marcus Samuelsson told the Miami Herald. Samuelsson said it's his goal to make a pathway for women of color in the culinary world. Samuelsson hired Jones as the chef at large of the Overtown eatery as she was simultaneously working to open her own restaurant, Chick'N Jones. For Samuelsson, it's about being intentional in hiring. 'If you want to make change, and you're going to make changes in the industry, and you're looking at it from a structural point of view, you have to work at it,' he said. 'You have to work hard at it, just like we want a great dish, right? It takes effort. I'm committed to that process.' Like Samuelsson, Damon dismissed the claim that it is difficult to find Black women chefs. 'It's silly and it's a discredit to Black women that are doing phenomenal, incredible, excellent work, and maybe those women aren't as visible,' she said. She noted that historically the kitchen has been a space for women, but that as the culinary world became a competitive industry that leads to 'notoriety, fame, acclaim and awards,' women have been given less opportunity. 'Once it goes into that territory, that's when men are like, 'oh, that's for me.' Not when it's just cooking for family or for love or in service of people — actually true service with no attention or no recognition? That's for women folk,' she said. 'But if it's some cooking that can get me awards and money and put me a pack above the rest, oh, that's for the men folk.' Jamaican chef Taneisha Bernal, who moved to Miami in 2009 and has gained a huge social media following with her home-grown cooking skills, will also be at The Cookout. She's excited to be working alongside the men at the event, but recognizes that it's an opportunity to prove her skills. 'This is a male-dominated field, and to see that I'm just one of two women that will be there, of course, we have to come out, stand out and show out,' she said. Bernal has experienced similar friction from male colleagues, many of whom wouldn't listen to her suggestions and ignored her advice. 'It was not easy,' she said. Knowing the obstacles Black women face in the industry, she's worked to mentor other women chefs. Damon and Bernal hope their work is encouraging to other women. 'When they see us on this platform representing at an event such as this, of this magnitude, it gives them hope because oftentimes, they don't know where to start,' Bernal said. 'Being a part of this, it really is allowing me to showcase that you can too do this.' Damon agreed, but noted that in 2025, it feels 'absurd' that having two Black women working at the event is such a milestone. But she said that if she hadn't known about figures like chef and activist Georgia Gilmore, author and chef Edna Lewis, or restaurateur B. Smith, she might not be where she is today, which puts her in a position to help other Black women. 'You gotta open the door and keep the door open.' If you go: What: The Cookout at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival When: 4-7 p.m. Saturday Where: Eden Roc Miami Beach, 4525 Collins Ave., Miami Beach Cost: $175 Info: