Malik Francis
My love and passion for cooking was a great gift from my grandfather. Some of my strongest, most indelible childhood memories were eating those amazing recipes he learned in Louisiana. Those unforgettable meals taught me that food has the power to connect us to our shared past and our common present.
My professional culinary journey began in graduate school. I hosted small dinner parties for my science nerd friends as a method for coping with the stress of school. While writing my PhD thesis, I ran out of money and desperately needed to find a part-time job. I figured since I was good at cooking for friends, it might be worth a shot to cook for a crowd of strangers, too. I naively emailed restaurants, persisting until I got a ‘yes’. I fell in love with cooking immediately and knew then that being the best chef I can be is the dream I was meant to pursue.