Reading the Black Library with Marcus Samuelsson: Red Rooster Cookbook - at Currency Exchange Cafe

Chef Marcus Samuelsson visits Currency Exchange Cafe to share highlights from his new Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem. He will be joined in conversation by artist and architect Amanda Williams.

 

Arrive early to snag your seat and a glass of wine. Evening specials. Book signing in BING Reading Room to follow!

 

Presented in partnership with BING Reading Room and Currency Exchange Cafe.

 

At Currency Exchange Cafe

 

RSVP HERE

About the book: When chef Marcus Samuelsson opened Red Rooster on Harlem’s Lenox Avenue, he envisioned so much more than just a restaurant. He wanted to create a gathering place at the heart of his adopted neighborhood, where both the uptown and downtown sets could see and be seen, mingle and meet – and so he did, in a big way. Ever since the 1930s, Harlem has been a magnet for more than a million African Americans, a melting pot for Spanish, African, and Caribbean immigrants, and a mecca for artists; named after a historic neighborhood speakeasy, the modern Rooster reflects all of that, from the local art showcased on its walls, to the live music blaring from its performance spaces, to the cross-cultural soul food on its patrons’ plates and the evocative cocktails in their hands.

 

THE RED ROOSTER COOKBOOK is as lush and layered as its inheritance. Traditions converge in these pages, with dishes like Brown Butter Biscuits, Chicken and Waffles, Jerk Bacon and Baked Beans, Latino Pork and Plantains, and Chinese Steamed Bass and Fiery Noodles, and Ethiopian Spice-Crusted Lamb. Lyrical essays and intimate interviews – including a foreword by New Yorker critic Hilton Als and conversations with unsung neighborhood heroes – convey the flavor of the place. Stunning archival and contemporary photos document Harlem’s past, present and future. Walk with Marcus down 125th Street, from river to river, and see what all the commotion is about.

 

About the author: Marcus Samuelsson is the acclaimed chef behind Red Rooster Harlem, Ginny’s Supper Club, and Streetbird Rotisserie. A committed philanthropist; and the youngest person to ever receive a three-star review from The New York Times, Samuelsson has won multiple James Beard Foundation Awards including Best Chef: New York City, and was tasked with planning and executing the Obama Administration’s first State dinner. Samuelsson was also crowned champion of television shows “Top Chef Masters” and “Chopped All Stars”, and served as a mentor on ABC’s “The Taste”. Samuelsson co-produced Harlem EatUp!, a food and culture festival launched in Harlem, New York in 2015, and he is also the founder of the website Food Republic. He is the author of The New York Times bestselling memoir Yes, Chef, the young adult version, Make It Messy, Marcus Off Duty cookbook, and the forthcoming, The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem, released in October 2016. He has recently announced the opening of a new restaurant at MGM National Harbor outside of Washington, DC at the end of 2016 and the opening of Red Rooster Shoreditch in East London. In May 2016 he was inducted into the James Beard Foundation Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America.

About the interlocutor: Amanda Williams is a visual artist who trained as an architect. She is interested in how combining these two disciplines might help make all parts of cities thrive. Her work spans the fields of painting, installation, and photography, and reflects the cultural relationship between color, race, and space. In addition to her visual arts practice, which includes traditional paintings, cut paper maps, and public art, Amanda is also an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and is currently a visiting faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis.

 

Amanda is a sought-after lecturer, and has participated widely in individual and group shows, including an entry in the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial, and forthcoming exhibitions at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, The Arts Club of Chicago and the MCA Chicago. She is based in Chicago.