Kwame Onwuachi is a celebrity chef that you might recognize from his stint on Bravo's "Top Chef" in 2015. He was one of the youngest chefs starring that season, eventually landing in sixth place, and is the author of several books, including "Notes From a Young Black Chef: a Memoir" and "My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef." In 2022, he'd go on to open the restaurant in his hometown of New York City, and he recently opened up , a new restaurant in Washington D.
C., earlier this month. Both restaurants focus on Afro-Caribbean cooking, which reflect Onwuachi's Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian and Creole background.
But one thing you might not know about him is that he was once a McDonald's employee, which is, as you'd imagine, a far cry from where Onwuachi is today. I caught up with him at a McDonald's employee appreciation event called the "1 in 8" celebration, which refers to the statistic that one in eight Americans has at some point in their careers. He sat down with me for to talk about the lessons he learned during his time at the fast food restaurant and how it's helped define his restaurants today.
It turns out fast food shares more DNA with fine dining than you'd think — Onwuachi learned lessons about consistency and efficiency from McDonald's that he uses in his fine dining kitchens. The consistency he learned in fast food is key You'd think that working in a fast food kitchen would be nothing like running a fine dining one, but it turns out, there are some va.