Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen - Hardcover

by Jon Gray (Author), Pierre Serrao (Author), Lester Walker (Author)

Named a Best Cookbook of 2022 by Barnes & Noble

Named a Best Cookbook of Fall 2022 by Food & Wine, Forbes, Philadelphia Inquirer, Publishers Weekly, The Takeout, and more

An American Library Association CODES Essential Cookbook of the Year

Shortlisted for The Art of Eating Prize

"This year's most important cookbook."
--Vogue

"Every recipe comes with an immersive story, bringing you closer to the intent behind the dish."
--The Strategist, The Year's Most Giftable Coffee-Table Books

"Featuring vibrant recipes, interviews, art, and photography, this is a compelling culinary manifesto about the nature of Black food. . . . Ghetto Gastro offers an awakening of what Black food was, is, and can become while demonstrating the sheer joy and creativity Black communities generate. With waves of crunch, heat, flavor, and umami, this Bronx culinary collective also inspires discussions about race, history, and long-standing food inequality."
--Food & Wine

Knowledge Is Power

Part cookbook. Part manifesto. Created with big Bronx energy, Black Power Kitchen combines 75 mostly plant-based, layered-with-flavor recipes with immersive storytelling, diverse voices, and striking images and photographs that celebrate Black food and Black culture, and inspire larger conversations about race, history, food inequality, and how eating well can be a pathway to personal freedom and self-empowerment.

Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen is the first book from the Bronx-based culinary collective, and it does for the cookbook what Ghetto Gastro has been doing for the food world in general--disrupt, expand, reinvent, and stamp it with their unique point of view. Ghetto Gastro sits at the intersection of food, music, fashion, visual arts, and social activism. They've partnered with Nike and Beats by Dre, designed cookware sold through Williams-Sonoma and Target, and won a Future of Gastronomy award from the World's 50 Best.

Now they bring their multidisciplinary approach to a cookbook, with nourishing recipes that are layered with waves of crunch, heat, flavor, and umami. They are born of the authors' cultural heritage and travels--from riffs on family dishes like Strong Back Stew and memories of Uptown with Red Velvet Cake to neighborhood icons like Triboro Tres Leches and Chopped Stease (their take on the classic bodega chopped cheese) to recipes redolent of the African diaspora like Banana Leaf Fish and King Jaffe Jollof. All made with a sense of swag.

Author Biography

Ghetto Gastro is the Bronx-born culinary collective from Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, and Lester Walker. The group has defined its own lane, merging food, fashion, music, art, and design. Claiming both the beauty and grit from the streets with the aspiration and aesthetics of the finer things, Ghetto Gastro's interdisciplinary approach celebrates the Bronx as a driver of global culture. The crew masterfully blends influences from the African diaspora, global South ingredients, and the pulse of hip-hop to create offerings that address race, identity, and economic empowerment.

Osayi Endolyn is a James Beard Award-winning writer, whose work explores food and identity. She's been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Eater, Food & Wine, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, and the Oxford American. She's a regular contributor to food-centered storytelling on various TV and audio platforms. Endolyn is the coauthor of the national bestseller The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food with Marcus Samuelsson.

Since launching in 2012, Ghetto Gastro has gone from hosting underground parties to spearheading large-scale brand campaigns and events with leading fashion designers, artists, and entrepreneurs. Their collaborators and partners include figures like Virgil Abloh, Nike, Cartier, the Serpentine, the Museum of Modern Art, and many more.

During the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Ghetto Gastro prioritized Bronx grassroots initiatives and mutual aid. In recognition for feeding their community, the group was nominated for the Basque Culinary World Prize. In 2021, Ghetto Gastro launched its namesake consumer goods brand of pantry items inspired by ancestral ingredients. The collective released a custom line of kitchen appliances, CRUXGG, across Target stores nationwide and a cookware line with Williams Sonoma. Follow along at @ghettogastro on Instagram.