Seeing that he is an award-winning chef, author of several cook-books and the owner of multiple restaurants, one must say that Swedish chef Marcus Samuelsson has come a really long way.
Marcus’s journey hasn’t always been easy or straight forward, wich can’t be said about his focus; to become a renowned chef.
A renowned chef and successful entrepreneur
Marcus has worked hard to build his business from the ground up and can now show off a very impressive resumé.
Marcus is the youngest receiver ever of a three-star review in the The New York Times, and was also tasked to execute the first State dinner held by the Obama Administration (in honor of the Indian Prime Minister).
As if that wasn’t enough, Marcus is the man behind restaurants such as Red Rooster Harlem, MARCUS Montreal and Streetbird Bahamas, he’s also in charge of several restaurants in Sweden.
Further more, Marcus curated the team of chefs for the Met Gala menu in 2022; a task he managed with honors and with a strong focus on presenting the rich diversity of American cooking.
Alongside these two prestiguous assignments Marcus can add several James Beard Foundation awards, head judge on Top Chef: Family Style, host on No Passport Required, Top Chef Masters US and Top Chef Sweden as well as Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend to his already impressive and long resumé.
To top it all off, Marcus is co-chairing in Careers through Culinary Arts Program as well as co-producing he annual food festival Harlem EatUp! where people gather around to celebrate the food and culture of Harlem.
Marcus the entrepreneur
During the pandemic Marcus partnered up with World Central Kitchen while converting both Red Rooster restaurants (Harlem and Overtown) and Marcus B&P in Newark into community kitchens, where houndred of thousands meals were served to people in need.
Recent projects include the podcast This Moment, which Marcus produces with Swedish rapper Timbuktu. Through Marcus Samuelsson Group Marcus works to maintain and create outstanding food, music and cultural experiences; from high-end restaurants to casual cafes and playful events.
Marcus the chef
Marcus himself has stated that the restaurant closest to his heart is The Red Rooster in NYC. This is where his carreer as a top chef took off, even if his journey started years before that.
Even though Marcus is behind around thirthy (”-ish”) restaurants, The Red Rooster is probably the one he’s mostly known for, not the least in Sweden.
Marcus the author
Marcus’s bestselling memoirs, “Yes, Chef; A Memoir” (2013) has been described as ”one of the ten best books of the year” (Vogue Magazine) and ”one of the great culinary stories of our time” (New York Times.).
The English version of “The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem” was also highly praised by the critics, as was his cookbook “The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food: A Cookbook” (2020), in which Marcus shares over 100 recipes as a celebration to contemporary ”black cooking”.
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© Petra Roman, PR Text&Bild
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