This New York chef delivers a message about Haitian pride

Medegine Guillaume continues to achieve fame within the food industry. Born in Harlem, this Haitian-American chef desires to spread the fantastic thing about her heritage while making health a priority.

The valued member of the 2023 James Beard Cohort already has a lot on her plate. As the events manager for Columbia University and its dining department, Guillaume wakes up around 3:30 a.m. and heads to the Ivy League institution to begin her workday.

Her adventure with culinary art was not a childhood passion. The idea got here from the struggles that local, diverse restaurants were going through. These days, her inspiration goes beyond successful entrepreneurship and she or he desires to make clear the cuisine of her Haitian immigrant community. As the group has recently grow to be the goal of bias-fueled attacks, Guillaume considers his mission much more essential.

He was interviewed by a chef trained on the Culinary Institute of America BLACK ENTERPRISES about being a pioneer of diversity and equality within the culinary sphere and the way it motivates her to point out a different perspective of her heritage.

Guillaume wears many hats beyond that of a chef at Columbia University, and takes advantage of many opportunities outside of the everyday 9-to-5 working hours. She is scheduled to be a featured chef at a fundraising event for the NFL for the brand new Super Bowl weekend. Before that, it’s preparing its first pop-up in Philadelphia this month.

However, this culinary arts major was born out of experiencing high-quality food while studying abroad in Paris.

“That’s why I tell everyone that I never dreamed of being a chef, it was never my goal,” says Guillaume. “I never thought I would go to culinary school and cook everything the way I grew up. My mother cooked, but back then we had KFC. It was kind of our thing, yeah. We weren’t preparing fresh ingredients the way people do now, nor were we eating healthily.”

While setting out to seek out popular restaurants offering a number of Caribbean dishes, she noticed that these restaurants weren’t operating at full capability.

“After a while, I assumed I might open a restaurant. And then I heard horror stories about people saying, “Oh, it’s like the chef walked off the line,” or perhaps you do not get respect out of your crew because you do not know what you are doing. So then I say, ‘Let me attempt to go to culinary school so I can actually learn this method’…I will likely be the change that I would like to see that is just not represented in my community and even well represented in other areas.”

This personal mission eventually evolved into a political message. After Donald Trump made false accusations about the eating habits of the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, Guillaume believes that such prejudiced stereotypes are what make her job so essential.

“That’s why I became a chef, because I don’t want that narrative to go around,” she said. “That’s not what we’re about. Our food is delicious. Our cuisine is wonderful if you have eaten it, if you have had the pleasure of eating it. This motivates me even more to continue with what I am trying to achieve. And that’s why I’ve been doing all these things lately. I see you, all these opportunities to kind of spread the message that this is not what Haiti is about. Haiti is a beautiful country. Haitians are hardworking and don’t deserve this nonsense.”

While preparing culinary delights from her home country, Harlem native Guillaume found her voice by presenting her opportunity, which the James Beard Foundation inspired her to advertise through this medium.

“I think we have it together, especially a lot of us other Haitian chefs,” she explained. “They prepare dinners together. They’re forming groups and things like that to see how we can fight this and share a different message. I think that’s what we’ve managed to do so far. I mean, I know there were rallies and stuff like that, but it motivated me to take action and show, like I said, a different perspective.”

Beyond inspiring a latest era of Black, revolutionary chefs, what’s next in her journey? Her restaurant – with a menu rooted in Haiti – and Asian fusion. Guillaume is within the planning stages of his biggest goal. However, she believes that every one her previous experiences have prepared her for this.

“I do know after I went to highschool it was very difficult for me because not a lot of us looked like us. I worked harder to practice the technique I needed to learn, but after graduating I spotted that you could have to have tough skin. You must have that attitude. My goals weren’t held back by what anyone said or what I felt I had the flexibility to do, even when I doubted myself, it didn’t stop me from pushing forward, meeting people, cooking and dealing…

She credits this wisdom to other chefs who encourage her, including Chef Fariyal at Hav & Mar, the New York seafood spot founded by Marcus Samuelsson.

“The people I learned from also encouraged me to move forward and do things well and then believe that I could do it. It was very difficult to prepare the food and do all the steps and then serve it, but they showed me how to do it properly. And after a while you say, “Oh, I can do that.” I can do it with my eyes closed.”