Jamaican Chef Andrew Black is 2023 James Beard Award Winner

Aug 04, 2023

Among the 2023 winners of The James Beard Foundation®, is Jamaican Chef Andrew Black. Presented by Capital One, the awards honors excellence across the culinary industry, from fine dining to casual gems in our communities, while also supporting and encouraging a more sustainable industry.

The winners were announced on June 5, 2023, during a live ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicagoco-hosted by Eric Adjepong, chef, author, and host of Alex vs America; Esther Choi, chef and owner ofmŏkbar and ms.yoo; Gail Simmons, author, producer, and Top Chef judge; and Andrew Zimmern, JamesBeard Award winner, TV personality, chef, writer, and social justice advocate. Approximately 1,500 guestswere in attendance.

Additional presenters included Mashama Bailey, James Beard Award–winning chef and restaurateur, TheGrey; Chris Bianco, James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur, Pizzeria Bianco; Monti Carlo, TVpersonality, food writer, and host of the Food Network’s Help My Yelp; Sarah Grueneberg, James BeardAward-winning chef and restaurateur, Monteverde; Tahiirah Habibi, sommelier, founder of The HueSociety, and James Beard Awards Committee member; Carla Hall, cookbook author, chef, and TVpersonality; Tanya Holland, chef, author, James Beard Foundation trustee, and Awards Committee Chair;and Erick Williams, James Beard Award-winning chef, and restaurateur, Virtue Restaurant; among others.

“Congratulations to the exceptional winners of this year’s Restaurant and Chef Awards—whoseincredible achievements and dedication to culinary excellence have left an indelible mark on ourindustry,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation. “As we celebrate, it’simportant to acknowledge the significant work that these accomplished restaurants and chefs have doneto push American food culture forward—using their immense creativity, passion, and talent to createextraordinary experiences on behalf of others. Thanks to them, our food future is bright, indeed.”

“As we celebrate the second year of the new awards process, we were thrilled to witness the remarkabletalent showcased by our 2023 nominees and winners, who represent the true diversity of gifted chefs andoutstanding restaurants that exist across the industry,” said Holland. “I am deeply appreciative to thecommittee members for their thoughtful deliberations that were instrumental in recognizing and honoringsome of the brightest and most innovative minds in our industry.”

“On behalf of the committee, we are excited for all of this year’s Restaurant and Chef Award winners,”said Adrian Miller, Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee Chair and Allecia Vermillion,Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee Vice-Chair. “We are thrilled to celebrate excellenceexemplified by the quality and diverse restaurants and chefs who play a pivotal role in shaping ourcountry’s vibrant culinary landscape.”

“As a chef, it is a privilege and an honor to co-host this year’s Restaurant and Chef Awards,” saidAdjepong. Added Choi: “Thank you to the Beard Foundation for giving us this opportunity.”“To play a key role in celebrating our fellow chefs and restaurateurs has been such a joy,” said Simmons.“Congratulations to this year’s winners. Your work makes us proud to be a part of our country’sindependent restaurant industry,” concluded Zimmern.

2023 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Award Winners

The James Beard Awards, considered to be among the nation’s most prestigious honors, recognizeexceptional talent in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system, as well as ademonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where allcan thrive. Established in 1990, with the first ceremony taking place in 1991, the Restaurant and ChefAwards is one of five separate recognition programs for the Awards.

Jamaican Andrew Black of Grey Sweater, Oklahoma City, OK copped Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)

Black said, “This win is not just for me” adds the chef. “It’s a win for St Mary, the parish of my birth, for Barracks River, Richmond [where I was raised]; for my grandmother Elizabeth Bandoo who introduced me to the kitchen; and to my home economics teacher Maureen Cunningham who encouraged me to pursue my passion for food even when I was being teased for being the sole male student.”

He is a 2023 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef Southwest, and a 2022 James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Chef–is a chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur in Oklahoma City. Born in Jamaica to an Indo-Jamaican family, where chapati was cooked on a handmade clay oven over an open fire; Chef Black was often tasked with building outdoor clay ovens for his grandmother as a child. From working his way through the island’s resort kitchens, to staging his way through fine dining restaurants in Europe as a young adult with the support of the Jamaican government, to finally finding himself as a business leader and tastemaker in Oklahoma City with the inimitable fine dining venture Grey Sweater, trend-setting Black Walnut, and chic patisserie Gilded Acorn. He is author of the cookbook Foraging in Oklahoma: Tales and Recipes from the Open Road, as told to The Oklahoman’s Steve Lackmeyer.

Follow Chef Black on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/chefandrewblack/

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