Jermaine Brown’s culinary journey started at his mother’s side.
“I was right in the skillet,” Brown recalled.
Now, he’s the executive chef at Julia Pearl South Cuisine. His success, and the success of other black chefs and black restaurateurs, is being celebrated during the inaugural Black Restaurant Weekend.
The event aims to inspire more people of color to consider careers in the culinary industry.
“There’s not a lot of black chefs that are really known out here in Dallas,” Brown said. “With an event like this, it’s pride and it helps you to build it out more.”
Brown was hired by Julia Pearl owner and acclaimed chef Tre Wilcox. Despite a talented pool, Wilcox said minority chefs at the head of fine dining kitchens in North Texas are hard to find. He’s determined to not let that keep talented chefs from fulfilling their potential.
“I’ve noticed that over the years there's very few African-Americans in (the culinary industry), but I think that’s a good thing. It only allows me to stick out more. I can please all cultures with my food, but I stand alone as a black man and I’m proud to be that," Wilcox said.
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Similar first-time events focusing on black chefs and restaurant owners are underway in Chicago and Memphis. Brown hopes it can inspire the next generation of young chefs to get in the kitchen.
“The people before us paved the way and now we have to keep it going for other chefs,” Brown said.
Black Restaurant Weekend was organized by the Dallas Legacy Group. It was born out of an organizer’s search for local black-owned fine dining restaurants.
“We knew a lot of private chefs, but let’s start research and see if there are any black restaurants, black-owned businesses, or other black chefs that people may not know about here in the city,” said Stephani Clark, who helped organize the event.
The goal is for Black Restaurant Weekend to last an entire week and become an annual tradition.
“It's necessary to make a heartbeat. It’s a thump,” Wilcox said. “We want to reach out to our own kind and let them know that there are black entrepreneurs and restaurateurs in this industry and we want to support them."
For a list of upcoming events click here.
