First-generation Ghanaian-American Chef Nana Wilmot’s 3-course menu for our A NIGHT IN series paid homage to the matriarchs in her family.
Photo Cred: Chef Nana Wilmot
Chef Wilmot’s history of entrepreneurship is evident in her extensive culinary history. Chef Wilmot is the Founder of Georgina’s Private Chef And Catering Co and the creator of the dinner series Love That I Knead Supper Club. After graduating from The Art Institute of Philadelphia in 2013, Wilmot worked for Wolfgang Puck Catering and then as a member of the opening crew of Chef Jose Garces’ new Amada NYC location. The accolades followed with her James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant NYC 2017, 1 Michelin star in 2018, and a solo spread in Bon Appetit’s 2018 March issue called “Life on the Line.”
In her A NIGHT IN series, Chef Wilmot created a warm, comforting environment that reminded her of homecoming and family.
"The menu reminds me of the feelings I get when I sit at the table with my aunts and cousins. It's the feeling of home. The menu is dedicated to my grandmother and mother. It's about my childhood memories and everything I love about it."
Chef Wilmot’s first course was a nutty peanut butter soup inspired by Sundays spent with her grandma. The comfort of the brown nuts and tomato base provided a warm hug to start the meal.
"My influences are my grandmother and aunts and how they have cooked for us for so long. They influence me by understanding the importance of tradition, the importance of knowing where you are from, and taking pride in that."
Our main course was a grilled suya beef skewer and jollof rice with fried plantain. Chef Wilmot incorporated meals that described her memories of eating Ghanaian street foods when she returned home. Found at every party and gathering back home, including street foods on her menu was necessary to showcase Ghanaian cuisine.
Chef Wilmot’s vision for Ghanaian cuisine’s future disrupts stereotypes of fine dining and who can disrupt the industry. Breaking through the culinary world’s glass ceiling, Chef Wilmot no longer wants to fit into traditional views of fine dining but showcase Ghanaian food on the world’s stage without boundaries.
"As a first-generation Ghanaian American born in NY, it took me a while to be proud of who I am. This menu is me exploring that, exploring through my eyes what it means to be Ghanaian."
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