Celebrate The Season of Remembrance! Spirited Storytelling + Flavorful Food, Drink, History & Cultural Connections: Strolling & Sampling Through The Slope…
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“We Rise By Lifting Others!” so Let’s Rise Up to that Challenge b/c Bonbon Lakay Needs (Y)OUR Support Now More Than Ever. Check out their Pay It Forward initiative for win-win ways to help not only this wonderful specialty foods shop but also the many communities it benefits beyond just the neighborhood where it’s based…
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The Sidecar was my signature drink once upon a time — the ‘Hennessy Sidecar’ to be precise — back when that category-leading cognac was instrumental in helping revitalize trendy Americans interest in rediscovering (and more importantly consuming) “classic cocktails”. Hennessy was also the main account I was assigned to at the then-called Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners / KB&P (advertising agency) in the late 90’s early 2000’s….
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“I think I might have been the only African American person here, and that’s not unusual,” said Tonya Hopkins, a food writer and TV personality known as the Food Griot.
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Black / African-American music has had the most profound impact on music the world over. With that in mind, last June (Black Music Month) on my weekly radio show “Savory & Sweet…” I featured my brilliant wine work colleague/co-worker “AK” — aka Akinsheye Brunson, who shared how Hip Hop helped him carve out a career path in the wine world, and how music & wine connects us to ourselves — and to each other.
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No matter anyway, seeing as I opted in for #GINuary instead — which inspired me to make the delish drink you see here: A creatively, naturally colored, cocktail I came up with using DU NORD's Prominence Gin — as the ‘prominent' ingredient .
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It’s high time people know about Chef James Hemings (1765-1801), the talented, enslaved chef owned by Thomas Jefferson. Hemings’ enduring impact on popular American eats and the development of high-end cookery and restaurant dining in this country has been all but eclipsed by Jefferson’s prominence.
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Like the carrot cake, this was inhaled and the bottle empty by the end of the night. Culinary historian Tonya Hopkins was at my house watching the enthusiasm for it; she suggests mixing the whiskey with grape juice or rosé to make a spirited version of PB&J.
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The Kwanzaa Menu is hosted by Tonya Hopkins aka The Food Griot and features delicious “Afro-futuristic” recipes she created to share for celebrating the principles of the holiday…
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Tonya Hopkins, aka “The Food Griot,” is a show host, legacy cook, drink designer, culinary history consultant and now host of new series, The Kwanzaa Menu, premiering Monday, Dec. 26 on FoodNetwork.com.
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Food Network is getting into the holiday spirit with its first Kwanzaa series, set to highlight the food and history of the annual seven-day celebration.
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Black culinary innovators have brought us the likes of the ice cream scooper, fruit juicer, keg tapper and many more with the foundation of the American food and beverage industry coming from the “brawn and brilliance” of Black Americans, culinary historian and WURD Radio host Tonya Hopkins a.k.a The Food Griot, told The Plug.
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On this week’s episode of Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio, they’re diving into the foods of summer.
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We recently shared the fascinating story behind pepper pot soup on our Foodizen podcast. The soup was consumed by millions of Americans throughout the 20th century, but its history…
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Watch and enjoy James Hemings Society founder, Chef Ashbell Mcelveen's historical talk & old-fashioned ice cream making demo (at the Free Library of Philadelphia Culinary Literacy Center…
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Finally sharing this fab article written earlier this year by lifestyle journalist and author, Maria Hunt and featuring some of my "coolest" (get it?) culinary history work: "3 Black Pioneers Who Made…
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As a “food history sleuth,” Hopkins contributes research and consultation to academic and consumer publications, discussion panels and has appeared on radio and television. She also helps to put together lavish, historic meals, as close to how they were prepared back then. With her help, diners, for instance, can get a taste of George Washington’s favorite soup.”
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“Ice cream is one of those supercalifragilistic, whitewashed things where they wrote Black people out of the history,” says Tonya Hopkins, aka The Food Griot, a food historian in New York. “Before there were mechanical ice cream makers, Black people were literally the ice cream makers.”
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I had a wonderful time and Tonya lives up to her "griot" name as a fantastic storyteller. Although Tonya has not yet written her own book, she has contributed to numerous scholarly publications. She is also co-founder of the James Hemings Foundation, named after Thomas Jefferson's enslaved, French-trained chef de cuisine, and consultant on the upcoming exhibit at MOFAD, "African/American: Making the Nation's Table.
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