Black Chefs Collective provides resources to culinary community

A lack of representation in the field of culinary arts spurred two local chefs into action, creating an organization to educate more chefs of color. Created in 2022 by Chef Vikki Massie and Chef Felicia Grady, the Black Chefs Collective is dedicated to bringing free culinary training to Black and other chefs of color, business owners, home cooks and bakers. “There are a lot of us that aren’t culinary trained, so some of us need that extra in order to get our business going,” Massie said. “We’re hoping that it flourishes into more of an incubator situation where we can grow.” Massie said cooking found her by the time she was 29 years old, then she dipped her toes into the hospitality industry, working in restaurants and catering until eventually landing in education. In addition to running her own business, Samora Red Catering, Massie has been teaching college level culinary arts at J Everett Light Career Center for the last 11 years. Cooking also found Grady — albeit it was after 20 years of marriage ended in divorce. Culinary school ended up being the “something” Grady said she needed to find. A few years working in the public school systems...