Corner Table Talk

Chef Joe Randall , a national treasure and master craftsman with over 55 years of experience, is referred to as the "Dean of Southern Cooking". He and his close friends and colleagues, Edna Lewis, Leah Chase, Patrick Clark, along with the late Hercules, George Washington's enslaved cook, were honored at the  Smithsonian Institute of National Museum of African American History and Cu...

The esteemed James Beard Foundation (JBF) navigated shifting tides over the past few years as restaurant culture, including toxic work environments and reprehensible behavior, came into sharper focus. To their credit, ongoing calls for diversity and inclusion led to the cancellation of the annual James Beard Awards in 2020 and 2021 to allow for a period of self-examination, an internal audit, and...

Ambassador Nicole Avant, the high-level political powerhouse, former ambassador to the Bahamas, philanthropist and wife of Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, began her career in the music industry before getting involved in politics supporting the campaigns of candidates like Harold Ford, Jr. and President Barack Obama, in his run for the Senate and presidency .   Nicole grew up in Beverly Hill...

In 2015, having experienced the lack of food media coverage of South Los Angeles' emerging food scene, host Brad Johnson, the restaurateur behind Post & Beam in South LA, took a chance at getting a response and contacted Sam Sifton at the New York Times to somewhat playfully bring attention to the situation. Sam took the message to heart resulting in the article, "A Belle Epoque for African Am...

In October, David Chang the ever-evolving icon-chef, media creator, and founder of Momofuku returned to the screen in the Hulu documentary series “The Next Thing You Eat,” to speak with scientists, foodies, and chefs about how the food industry is innovating to address issues of climate change, health, food scarcity, and more. He also released his second cookbook,  Cooking at Home...

As the World Series is upon us, Adam Katz, one of the top-tier Major League Baseball (MLB) agents, and host, Brad Johnson, sit down to talk baseball. Adam rose to prominence as an agent in the 80's and 90's representing four of the league's MVP award winners: Sammy Sosa (1998), Ken Caminiti (1996), Mo Vaughn (1995) and Willie McGee (1985). Adam joined Wasserman’s Team Sports group in 2006 an...

JJ Johnson  is a  James Beard Award-winning  chef, TV personality and author best known for his barrier-breaking cuisine informed by the Caribbean flavors of his upbringing. Chef JJ’s signature cooking style combines culturally relevant ingredients and classical technique with a global point of view. At  FIELDTRIP ,  his made-to-order rice bowl shop that debuted in 2...

Keith L. Black M.D., named one of the “21 Most Important People of the 21st Century” by Esquire Magazine, is among an elite group of neurosurgeons in the world who have performed more than 8,000 brain tumor operations. The precision of his surgical skill enables him to remove tumors that often have been considered inoperable. Not satisfied to merely remove difficult brain tumors, Dr. B...

A man of many pursuits, Walt "Clyde" Frazier, the legendary NBA Hall of Famer with the distinction of being one of The Top 50 NBA Players,  led the NY Knicks franchise to its only two championships (1970 and 1973).  Today, as the color commentator for the Knicks on the MSG Network, he delivers solid sports analysis and well-seasoned talking points courtside while being a fan favorite for...

Ramon Hervey II, a model of resiliency and entrepreneurship, spent the last four decades journeying through multiple facets of the entertainment industry providing services in public relations, executive producing, artist management, live event production and brand consulting.  Ramon began his career in public relations gaining valuable experience working as an executive at Rogers & Cowan...

The legendary Suzanne de Passe, Co-chair of de Passe Jones Entertainment with her business partner, Madison Jones, is  an entertainment business executive and award-winning producer and writer.   Raised in Harlem, the daughter of Jamaican parents, Suzanne’s upbringing was filled with strong family values and an eclectic range of experiences from private school to international trav...

In 2020, Dawn Davis, took the reins as editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit along with Condé Nast's other food brands including Epicurious, Healthyish, and Basically, across digital, video, OTT, social and print platforms. In doing so, she made history as the first woman of color to hold this position.  Acknowledged as "a book world star" by the New York Times in their coverage of the...

Preston Clark , the son of the  James Beard  award-winning and one of the most influential and renowned African America chefs in the culinary arts, the late  Patrick Clark , is an accomplished chef and rising star in his own right. His father was the opening chef of Keith McNally's  Odeon Restaurant , and later helmed McNally's  Café Luxembourg  and ...

This week's guest is the amazing, down-to-earth Holly Robinson Peete who you might recognize from her acting roles but has evolved through her personal experience into being a voice for her father, her son, and her community to become one of the most trusted advocates for consistent and reliable education, outreach and support for both Parkinson's and autism. Through Holly's father, Matthew Robins...

Often people remark how they would love to open a restaurant and from the outside looking in, there is an understandable appeal. After all, having a home court to greet old friends, meet new ones, celebrate special occasions, and moving around the room in charge, can look glamorous at times. But behind-the-scenes, what does it take to be a restaurateur operating at a higher level? This week's gues...

Summertime nostalgia for most people includes ice cream and so it is only fitting that this week's guest is Lokelani Alabanza, a pastry chef by training, and the founder of Saturated Ice Cream, her own brand of plant-based, hemp-derived CBD ice cream made in Nashville, Tennessee. She creates beautiful flavors like Sweet Potato Gingersnap, Juneteenth, and Sunflower Butter Stacciatella, that spur th...

For there to be a well-balanced society, how important is access to affordable, nutritious, and convenient food? This week's guests, Sam Polk, Founder & CEO, and Chef Bryce Fluellen, Executive Director, Social Equity Franchise Program, of the ground-breaking company, Everytable, say it's a human right and they're on a mission to help transform the food system. Founded in 2016, Everytable is a...

Behind the mega-talent and incredible career, Debbie Allen is a multi-layered dynamo of wisdom, guidance, discipline and generous spirit. She has spent a career creating opportunities, breaking down barriers, and helping others find their purpose and passion, a North Star. In the words of Shonda Rhimes, "She put people of color on television and displayed them in ways that they hadn't been seen be...

Hospitality projects have to hit the right notes, engaging all the senses, to resonate. Over several decades, pioneering restaurateur David Rabin has morphed his talents into becoming an architect of the hospitality experience. His reputation and involvement in some of the most popular and memorable restaurants, clubs, and bars in New York City along with his broad network and uncanny ability to r...

John Bryant, the energetic, supremely self-assured, and prominent thought leader on financial inclusion, economic empowerment and financial dignity, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who has built more than 40 organizations, entities and companies including Operation HOPE, the largest non-profit financial literacy and economic empowerment services organization in the country with 1,200 offices...

Born, raised and living in Harlem, Musa Jackson, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Ambassador Digital Magazine, is also known as "The Harlem Ambassador", a title bestowed in a feature piece in NYC's Uptown Magazine (2015). A man of many talents, Musa has spent decades representing his beloved community. Musa can be seen in the new award-winning, documentary directed by Questlove chronicling the untold st...

In 2012, restaurateur Brad Johnson and Executive Chef Govind Armstrong opened a neighborhood restaurant, Post & Beam, in South LA. Formerly a Golden Bird Fried Chicken location, the building was taken down to the studs and rebuilt as a handsome free-standing building with mid-century modern inspired design, serving California soul food. It quickly gained notoriety locally and nationally for br...

Currently filming and starring opposite Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 7 (2022) and Mission Impossible 8 (2023), Esai Morales’ robust acting career, starting in the early 80s, includes performing in more than sixty tv shows and sixty movies.  Born and raised in Brooklyn, he heard his mother's conversations as a union activist, involved with the International Ladies' Garment Workers' U...

Winner of the 2018 James Beard Award "Best Chef: South" and one of Food and Wine magazine's Best New Chefs 2017, Chef Nina Compton is the chef/owner of award-winning Compère Lapin and Bywater American Bistro in New Orleans where she creates robust dishes that meld the flavors of her Caribbean upbringing and love for French and Italian cuisine, while highlighting the Gulf and Louisiana's bea...

Legendary actor, Danny Glover, has built a reputation for powerful onscreen performances such as in The Color Purple and Lethal Weapon series. He has been nominated multiple times for Best Picture, personal Emmys, won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor in a film, To Sleep with Anger, honored with the NAACP President's Award, multiple Image Awards and Ace Award for his work in the HBO movi...