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Sweet Home Café celebrated African American History Month with Black guest chef series

Over February, a chef’s residency program hosted by Restaurant Associates brought five distinguished Black culinarians to the museum’s Sweet Home Café, where they highlighted their own creations in a special month long series.

Mike Buzalka, Executive Features Editor

March 9, 2022

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Onsite dining operations around the country celebrated African American History Month in February in a variety of ways, but few did it with the culinary aplomb of the Sweet Home Café, appropriately so as the café serves as the main onsite dining destination at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. There, over the course of the month, dining services firm Restaurant Associates (RA) in collaboration with Thompson Hospitality, the country’s largest Black-owned foodservice contract firm, brought in five Black chefs from four separate operations, three being RA managed sites including Sweet Home Café itself, to feature their creations as part of a special month-long guest chef series.

Sweet Home’s executive chef, Ramin Coles, led off the program on Feb. 4, followed by Chef Mark Henry, CEC, chef/owner at Island Bwoy Cuisine on Feb. 11; Chef Portia Brown of RA’s operation at World Bank Group on Feb. 18; and the chef team of Alexandra Strong and Jaycee Couch from RA’s operation at Capital One Bank Headquarters on Feb. 25.

Here is a photo rundown of the chefs and some of the creations they served during Sweet Home Café’s African American History Month celebration…

About the Author

Mike Buzalka

Executive Features Editor, Food Management

Mike Buzalka is executive features editor for Food Management and contributing editor to Restaurant Hospitality, Supermarket News and Nation’s Restaurant News. On Food Management, Mike has lead responsibility for compiling the annual Top 50 Contract Management Companies as well as the K-12, College, Hospital and Senior Dining Power Players listings. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English Literature from John Carroll University. Before joining Food Management in 1998, he served as for eight years as assistant editor and then editor of Foodservice Distributor magazine. Mike’s personal interests range from local sports such as the Cleveland Indians and Browns to classic and modern literature, history and politics.

Mike Buzalka’s areas of expertise include operations, innovation and technology topics in onsite foodservice industry markets like K-12 Schools, Higher Education, Healthcare and Business & Industry.

Mike Buzalka’s experience:

Executive Features Editor, Food Management magazine (2010-present)

Contributing Editor, Restaurant Hospitality, Supermarket News and Nation’s Restaurant News (2016-present)

Associate Editor, Food Management magazine (1998-2010)

Editor, Foodservice Distributor magazine (1997-1998)

Assistant Editor, Foodservice Distributor magazine (1989-1997)

 

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