KWAME ONWUACHI is a James Beard Award-winning chef, restaurateur, and author. He has been named a Food & Wine Best New Chef, an Esquire Chef of the Year, a 30 Under 30 honoree by both Zagat and Forbes, and one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2025. He is the author of the memoir Notes from a Young Black Chef and the cookbook My America, has twice hosted the James Beard Awards, and regularly appears on TV shows such as Top Chef, Chef's Table, Billions, and Somebody Feed Phil.
Raised in New York City, Nigeria, and Louisiana, Onwuachi's culinary journey began in his mother's modest Bronx apartment. He trained at the Culinary Institute of America in New York City and, by the age of thirty had opened five restaurants, including the groundbreaking Afro-Caribbean eatery Kith/Kin in Washington, DC. Today, Onwuachi has restaurants across the country, in New York, DC, Miami, and Las Vegas. His restaurant Tatiana was named the number one restaurant in New York by The New York Times two years in a row, and his DC restaurant, Dogon, earned a spot as one of North America's 50 Best Restaurants.

JOSHUA DAVID STEIN is a James Beard Award-winning author, journalist, and editor. His previous books include Notes from a Young Black Chef and My America, both with Kwame Onwuachi; Russ & Daughters: 100 Years of Appetizing, with Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper; Dad, What's for Dinner? with David Nayfeld; and many others. He has also written many children's books, including Make New Friends, which was named one of the best children's books of the year for 2025 by The New York Times. His writing has appeared in Esquire, New York, The New York Times, Financial Times, and elsewhere. He lives in Brooklyn.