It’s important that it’s remembered,” he said. JJ Johnson Is a Young Chef on the Rise, to a Hip-Hop Beat Joseph Johnson, who goes by JJ, at the Chefs Club in NoLIta, where chefs from around the world take turns running the kitchen. He talked about his hunger to become a restaurateur as prolific and accomplished as Drew Nieporent, Danny Meyer, David Chang and April Bloomfield. 65k Followers, 1,573 Following, 1,806 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from JJ Johnson (@chefjj) In 2011, as a contestant on “Rocco’s Dinner Party,” a Bravo reality TV show hosted by the chef Rocco DiSpirito, Mr. Johnson wooed the judges with a dish of smothered shrimp and grits. It also notably attracted a diverse audience, moreso than most fine dining restaurants in the city. NEWSLETTER: FOR EXCLUSIVE NEWS, RECIPES, AND DISCOUNTS Stay updated with news, events, and more, PREFERRED PAYMENT CARD OF CHEF JJ JOHNSON. “That’s when I feel like black artists were having the best times in their careers. Music plays as much of a role in dining as food, Mr. Johnson said, recalling how his Puerto Rican grandmother played salsa while she prepared sofrito and plantain dumplings, and how his black American grandmother, raised in the Rocky Mountains, played Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Earth Wind & Fire as she made cherry pies and traditional Southern food. We are located at 109 Malcolm X Blvd, New York, NY 10026. Chef JJ’s is a unique, personal and hands-on culinary experience with a focus on kamado style cooking, corporate team building, private events and grilling classes. For every $8 donated, Fieldtrip will provide a hot meal to a child in need, and for every $40, the team is able to donate fresh produce boxes (filled with food to cook for a week), along with three of Fieldtrip’s rice bowls to families. to compile.
JJ Johnson is a James Beard Award-winning chef best known for his barrier-breaking cuisine connecting the foodways of West Africa and Asia to the Americas. By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. Chef JJ published his award-winning first cookbook in spring 2018, “Between Harlem and Heaven: Afro-Asian-American Cooking for Big Nights, Weeknights, and Every Day” (Flatiron Books). Do you have un upcomming event at home or at the office? Like Biggie, Tupac, Wu-Tang, Mariah, Erykah Badu, they were talking about real stuff that was happening in our lives.”, For $360, a diner can have everything on the menu in a tasting that Mr. Johnson calls “It Was All a Dream,” a nod to The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy.”, “This is a dream for me,” he said. Mr. Johnson has forged ahead alone in other ventures. Alexander Smalls, left, an owner of the restaurant the Cecil in Harlem, and Mr. Johnson, then its executive chef, in 2015.
In an interview, Mr. Parsons called Mr. Johnson “the illustrious JJ” with admiration. Welcome to Chef JJ Johnson! Crispy chicken, slick with sticky BBQ sauce, arrives flush with Carolina Gold fried rice. JJ explains that it’s all chalked up to the media—who alert the country that rice isn’t good for us, that it’s enriched and bleached and packed with gluten, when, in fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Mr. Johnson has filled the menu with brightly colored dishes and flavors, seen most obviously in a shared plate of cornmeal-crusted sea bass, seasoned with turmeric, that takes up an entire bowl and leaves just enough room for purple sweet potatoes, roasted carrots, papaya and long beans. He told his bosses he wanted a bigger role and more restaurants. Welcome to Fieldtrip! JJ Johnson Is a Young Chef on the Rise, to a Hip-Hop Beat. Caught in the middle was Mr. Johnson, who started out as chef de cuisine of the Cecil and ended up as executive chef of both restaurants. Together, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Smalls have written a 375-page cookbook, “Between Harlem and Heaven: Afro-Asian-American Cooking for Big Nights, Weeknights, and Every Day,” to be published in early February. White Rice vs Brown Rice: What Is the Difference? Chef JJ’s signature style of combining culturally relevant ingredients with his classically trained cooking and global point of view was inspired by the Caribbean tastes he grew up with, combined with inspiration from his travels. Related Reading: White Rice vs Brown Rice: What Is the Difference? He said he didn’t mean to sound cocky. (Veronica Chambers, who co-wrote the memoirs of the chefs Marcus Samuelsson and Eric Ripert, also collaborated on the cookbook.). His taste runs to ‘90s neo-soul and hip-hop. It too was a Craveable project and has closed. Plus, rice doesn’t just stop at white rice. Mr. Johnson’s cornmeal-crusted sea bass for two. Mr. Johnson, 33, said he needed to lay a foundation for himself; his wife, Samiyyah Chapman; and their 3-month-old twins. JJ Johnson wants you to eat rice.The New York City-based chef and James Beard Award-winning author operates a restaurant in Harlem called Fieldtrip, a community-driven enterprise founded in 2019 where rice is the center of attention.It’s here that rice is celebrated, in all shapes and forms. “Whereas here in the United States, rice is very eh.”. Their foundation was a collective three decades of traveling the African diaspora, meeting and eating with chefs of color, and researching the wide reach of a truly global cuisine; their inspiration was how African, Asian, and African-American influences cuisines all around the world. It’s here that rice is celebrated, in all shapes and forms. Craveable owns other spots such as Jimmy, a bar in the James Hotel in soho. “They could have picked any chef in the world, and they picked me,” Mr. Johnson crowed. “If I did something right in selecting a protégé who is going to make that a platform, then I ain’t mad.”. to support their mission of supplying children and families with healthy hot meals. When Chef JJ's wife, a nurse in Manhattan, mentioned she was so busy she didn't eat all day, JJ sent FIELDTRIP rice bowls to her hospital — and Fieldtrip Harlem's match-a-bowl program was born! |, 9 Baking Mistakes That Ruin Your Cakes, Cookies, Brownies & Bread, The Top Trending Fall Foods & Recipes, According to Google, The Best Places to Buy Baking Ingredients Online, Easy Baking Recipes You Can Make with Pantry Staples. , a community-driven enterprise founded in 2019 where rice is the center of attention.
“When I was traveling the world cooking in Ghana, Singapore, and Israel, people [in those countries] are celebrating rice, they’re really excited about the rice dish that comes out,” JJ says.
Though Mr. Johnson excelled in a variety of sports, including skiing, basketball and soccer, he wanted to be a chef. JJ Johnson is a James Beard Award-winning chef best known for his barrier-breaking cuisine connecting the foodways of West Africa and Asia to the Americas. JJ Johnson wants you to eat rice. Why is rice not as popular in the United States as, say, pasta? A few dishes, like udon noodles with braised goat, and piri-piri prawns, have followed Mr. Johnson to Chefs Club from the Cecil. Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice. We'd like to welcome nationally recognized nutrition expert, author and New Yorker Brooke Alpert to our CookUnity. JJ Johnson is a James Beard Award-winning chef best known for his barrier-breaking cuisine connecting the foodways of West Africa and Asia to the Americas. JJ Johnson Is a Young Chef on the Rise, to a Hip-Hop Beat. Mr. Johnson at Chefs Club, which plays a 95-hour compilation of hip-hop and R&B (with no repeated songs) that he commissioned a D.J. “It’s not important that I’m the person that’s cooking the food and most remembered for it. And the menu was “too exotic,” he added, for the Cecil to become a weeknight habit for neighborhood residents. Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest tips, tricks, recipes and more, sent twice a week. In two of the most renowned and historic venues in Harlem, Alexander Smalls and JJ Johnson created a unique take on the Afro-Asian-American flavor profile. As one song transitioned to another, Mr. Johnson, who goes by JJ, dropped names. Chef JJ’s signature style of combining culturally relevant ingredients with his classically trained cooking and global point of view was inspired by the Caribbean tastes he grew up with, combined with inspiration from his travels.
Looking toward the rest of the summer, JJ and his team are continuing to prepare meals for the Harlem community. Over the past few weeks, Fieldtrip has donated 2,500 meals a week, spread out between local hospitals, essential workers, the Boys and Girls Club, and Harlem families in need. But then he did: “I made the Cecil iconic!” he declared.