The Cookout

Savor inspired twists on family cookout classics prepared by premier Black chefs from across the country on June 29

Accept your invitation to The Cookout, the kickoff to NGAAP’s inaugural fundraising campaign and Friends of James Beard Benefit, with a minimum charitable contribution of $500 per guest.

The Cookout—a distinct and elevated food experience in Charlotte, NC—is the kickoff to NGAAP‘s inaugural fundraising campaign and Friends of James Beard Benefit. Enjoy thoughtful chef-prepared tastings, complemented by beverages from celebrated Black winemakers and distillers and further enhanced by phenomenal entertainment—all making for an unforgettable feast and extraordinary cultural fest under a summertime Carolina sky.

NGAAP is raising funds to sustain and expand its influence on Charlotte’s social impact sector with a fresh philanthropic entity: The New Trust • Built with and for Black Communities. NGAAP envisions a new trust for Charlotte. The idea rests on deeper and more authentic relationships, responsiveness and accountability. It requires a brain trust of knowledge and expertise based on data, cultural competence, analysis, and the wisdom of lived experiences. And it necessitates greater financial capital to invest in community transformation and accelerate racial funding equity—placing equal access to opportunities and economic mobility within closer reach.

Campaign for a New Trust carries the theme “Celebrating the Culture while Elevating and Investing in the Culture.” We’re kicking it off with The Cookout as a celebration of Black food culture. Together, NGAAP and James Beard Foundation are set to create a remarkable feast. Guests at The Cookout will enjoy an elevated culinary experience, featuring some of America’s top Black chefs at an elegant country estate. An inspired menu of tastings—crafted and presented by James Beard Foundation-recognized chefs from across the country—will serve up fabulous flavors and sweet summertime memories. Lovers of fine food, wine, spirits and culture will revel in creative twists on family cookout classics made with premium-quality ingredients and farm-fresh delights.

Don’t miss being a part of this distinct Charlotte experience with gastronomic delights. The Cookout is poised to become an instant classic and NGAAP’s signature fundraiser. Good times. Great cause. The best food. A better future.

Join us at the table!

Award-winning Featured Chefs & Winemaker

Chef Shenarri ‘Greens’ Freeman • Cadence, New York, NY / UBUNTU, Los Angeles, CA
IG: @ShenarriGreens, @Cadence.nyc, @Ubuntu.la

Two-time James Beard Award Nominee, Executive Chef Shenarri “Greens” Freeman is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education’s plant-based Health-Supportive Culinary Arts program. Chef Greens is a Richmond, VA native committed to creating plant-based dishes that are fun and indulgent. Since opening her first restaurant (Cadence) in 2021, Chef Shenarri has been named a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, been nominated for two James Beard awards, has been recognized by Esquire, New York Times, Michelin, Vogue, and so many more. Now, she is excited to be bi-coastal, leading UBUNTU in LA and Cadence in NYC as Executive Chef.

Chef Ricky Moore • Saltbox Seafood Joint, Durham, NC
IG: @SaltboxSeafoodJoint X: @SaltboxSeafood

Chef Ricky Moore – the 2022 James Beard Foundation winner for “Best Chef Southeast” and self-professed North Carolina seafood evangelist – opened the popular Saltbox Seafood Joint® in 2012 in Durham, North Carolina. Praised by Saveur as “a tiny but mighty seafood shack,” Saltbox Seafood Joint takes inspiration from his native Eastern Carolina coast and its traditional roadside fish shacks. Early in his career, Moore served as a cook in the US Army before attending and graduating from the esteemed

Culinary Institute of America. After kitchen stints in some of the world’s most prestigious kitchens from DC to Chicago, Moore’s reputation earned him a spot competing against Chef Michael Symon on “Iron Chef America.” In Durham, Moore found success with Saltbox Seafood Joint, and debuted the Saltbox Seafood Joint® Cookbook in 2019 – with 60 recipes celebrating his coastal culinary heritage. In 2020, Discover awarded Saltbox Seafood Joint® $25,000 for its #EatItForward campaign for black-owned restaurateurs and MOFAD included it in its Black History Month exhibit, “African/American: Making the Nation’s Table.” In 2023, Moore was recognized as a Heinz Black Kitchen Initiative grant recipient. Today Moore continues to fulfill his lifelong dream as an entrepreneur, professional, and preserver of North Carolina fisherman and foodways, and is a member of the NC Oyster Trail and on the Advisory Board for the NC Sea Grant.

Afroculinarian & Author Michael W. Twitty • The Cooking Gene / Rice / KosherSoul
IG: @thecookinggene

Michael W. Twitty is an award-winning culinary historian and food writer living in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He blogs at Afroculinaria.com. He’s appeared on Bizarre Foods America with Andrew Zimmern, Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates and most recently Taste the Nation with Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi. HarperCollins released Twitty’s The Cooking Gene, in 2017, tracing his ancestry through food from Africa to America and from slavery to freedom. The Cooking Gene won the 2018 James Beard Award for best writing as well as book of the year, making him the first Black author so awarded. His piece on visiting Ghana in Bon Appetit was included in Best Food Writing in 2019 and was nominated for a 2019 James Beard Award. His next book, Rice, a New York Times noted cookbook, became available through UNC Press in 2021. KosherSoul, his follow-up to The Cooking Gene, was published in August 2022 through HarperCollins and received the 2023 National Jewish Book Award. Michael has a hit spice line based on The Cooking Gene and a recent special guest appearance on Michelle Obama’s Waffles and Mochi show on Netflix. Michael can also be found on MasterClass online, where he teaches Tracing Your Roots Through Food. Michael is a National Geographic Explorer, a TED fellow and a member of the 2022 TIME 100 Next class. He served as a historical consultant on the FX adaptation of Octavia Butler’s “Kindred.”

Chef Greg and Subrina Collier • Bayhaven Restaurant Group, Charlotte, NC
IG: chefgregcolliertn

The following is excerpted from Southern Living, May 13, 2024

The first thing most people notice about Subrina and Greg Collier is that they are unapologetically themselves. The unmistakable Memphis-laced cadence that flows from their mouths remains even as they have made the Carolinas their home for more than a decade. It’s hard to imagine that when they moved to Rock Hill, South Carolina, in 2012 to open The Yolk (a rollicking breakfast joint located in a tiny strip mall), they had barely been married two years and didn’t know a soul there.

The Colliers reinvented their success by relocating the restaurant to nearby Charlotte as Uptown Yolk, and they quickly became a fixture in the area’s culinary scene. (The restaurant closed during the pandemic and reopened in 2023 at The Vantage South End.) “The goal was to go to a place where I could help create a hospitality culture—one that I wanted to be a part of, where I could be a leader,” explains Greg, who has done just that.

Their lauded Charlotte restaurant, Leah & Louise, named after Greg’s late sister and grandmother respectively, opened in 2020. The “modern juke joint” pays homage to the South and the ingredients that make up the Black culinary canon through dishes such as the Mud Island (blackened catfish served with smoked catfish stew, pickled field peas, and rice grits). Despite opening during the height of the pandemic, the restaurant has been a huge success, and will relocate to a larger space in the city’s west side in 2024.

Chef Daryl Cooper • Jimmy Pearls, Charlotte, NC
IG: @jimmypearlsclt

Daryl Cooper II is a 2024 nominee for Best Chef Southeast by the James Beard Foundation with Jimmy Pearls Chesapeake Kitchen in Charlotte, NC. Originally from Newport News, Virginia Cooper brought his talents to Charlotte, NC in 2008. 

During his 14 years of experience, Daryl took on jobs ranging from casual dining at Chili’s to fine dining at private clubs as a cook and sous chef.  While working these jobs, his love for preparing and serving meals grew stronger which led to him launching The Cookin’ Coop Food Truck In 2016. After 4 fun years of “slinging birds” during The Cookin’ Coop Era, Cooper decided to shut down the food truck operation to go into business with his partner Oscar Johnson to start a new era in Jimmy Pearls Southern Eatery. Daryl takes pride in his cooking and wants his food to be able to bring a nostalgic feel, as well as create new memories.

Chef Oscar Johnson • Jimmy Pearls, Charlotte, NC
IG: @jimmypearlsclt

​

Oscar Johnson has recently received recognition as a 2024 James Beard Foundation nominee for Best Chef Southeast as Chef/Co-Owner of Jimmy Pearls Chesapeake Kitchen in Charlotte, NC. Also, in 2022, Johnson claimed the title of Chef of the Year by the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association. The baseline of his work in food is influenced by family traditions, the history of his hometown of Virginia and the Chesapeake region as a whole. Oscar also loves to explore the African diaspora and incorporate international cuisines into the creative process of his cooking.

Chef Maya-Camille Broussard • Justice of the Pies, Chicago, IL
IG: @mayacamillebroussard

Maya-Camille Broussard is the chef and owner of Justice of the Pies, a bakery that specializes in sweet and savory pies, quiches and tarts. Located on the South Side of Chicago, Justice of the Pies is a social mission-based bakery that considers itself to be a steward for fairness and equality and focuses on initiatives surrounding food issues.

Maya-Camille is one of the stars of Bake Squad, which aired its second season in January 2023 on Netflix. She was handpicked by Chef Christina Tosi of Milk Bar and has been anointed the “Flavor Maven” for her keen sense of smell and taste. Broussard was also a finalist for Outstanding Baker in the 2022 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards. Justice of the Pies opened its flagship storefront location in September of 2023, transforming her mother’s childhood dentist office into a production kitchen complete with a retail area and teaching kitchen. In December of 2023, Justice of the Pies was named one of the Best New Restaurants and Maya-Camille was named Pastry Chef of the Year by Esquire magazine. 

Maya-Camille released her book titled, Justice of the Pies: Sweet and Savory Pies, Quiches, and Tarts plus Inspirational Stories from Exceptional People: A Baking Book (Clarkson Potter) in the fall of 2022. The book was named one of the best cookbooks for the fall of 2022 by Food & Wine magazine, Bon Appetit magazine, and OprahDaily.com. 

As a member of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, Broussard is an advocate for people living with disabilities. Maya-Camille is also the founder of the Broussard Justice Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that focuses on food-related and health-related issues. It works to eradicate food insecurity and decrease health disparity issues in underserved communities. 

Vintner Chris Wachira • Wachira Wines, Alameda, CA
IG: @drchriswachira

Dr. Chris Wachira is the first Kenyan-born, Californian winemaker, distributor, importer, and exporter. She was named on the Wine Enthusiast ‘Future 40’ List (2023), which recognizes emerging tastemakers, innovators and advocates changing the way we drink.

Chris’s passion for wine stems from her previous work in neuroscience and healthcare consulting, which triggered her curiosity in the science of winemaking. This led her to found The Wachira Group, including her own label Wachira Wines, the first Kenyan-American-owned winery in the United States. Her other endeavors, KARIBU and SOKO by Wachira, proudly stand as the Bay Area’s first Black-owned and woman-owned winery tasting room and distributor of liquor licensed in California.

In May 2024, Wachira Wines was the official wine and toast at a White House State Department event for the Kenyan President. This June, Wachira Wines is the Official Wine of The Cookout.

PRESS RELEASE FOR THE COOKOUT | Link to PDF; Link to Word version

​——————————————————————————————————-

Proceeds from The Cookout benefit NGAAP and its mission to promote philanthropy—the giving of time, talent and treasure—among African Americans with the goal of enhancing the quality of life within our communities. Since 2006, NGAAP inspires action through the power of Black philanthropy.

The Cookout is part of the Friends of James Beard Benefit series – events hosted by generous
people, businesses, and organizations outside of James Beard Foundation (JBF) that provide critical funding for our programs. Each event supports our mission to champion a standard of Good Food for Good© anchored in talent, equity, and sustainability. A portion of proceeds also benefit James Beard Foundation.

NGAAP and James Beard Foundation operate in different spheres, yet both charitable organizations respect excellence, celebrate culture, and value equity so everyone has a chance to thrive.