Tanya Holland’s California Soul Journey

Chef Tanya Holland is with us this week to talk about her journey to becoming Executive Chef and Owner of the internationally renowned and beloved Brown Sugar Kitchen restaurant, in Oakland, California. She is acclaimed for her inventive take on modern soul food, as well as comfort classics. Her newest book, Tanya Holland’s California Soul, features recipes influenced by the historical migration of African American families, including Tanya’s own, using key ingredients, techniques, and traditions that African Americans brought with them as they left the South for California, creating a beloved version of soul food. In addition to 80 delicious and comforting recipes, there are stories about fifteen contemporary Black Californian food artisans whose work helps define California soul food today.  

She is also the author of The Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook and New Soul Cooking. Holland competed on the 15th season of Top Chef on Bravo, was the host and soul food expert on Food Network’s Melting Pot, she appears on the new HBO Max show Selena + Chef featuring Selena Gomez, and is the host of “Tanya’s Kitchen Table” on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

She is a member of the Board of Trustees, a frequent contributing writer and chef at the James Beard Foundation, and Brown Sugar Kitchen (Oakland, CA) has received multiple Michelin Bib Gourmand awards. She is an in-demand public speaker and lecturer who frequently leads the conversation on inclusion and equity in the hospitality industry.

Holland leads a critically acclaimed podcast “Tanya’s Table” produced by MuddHouse Media, interviewing many celebrity guests in Season One such as Questlove, Samin Nosrat, Alice Waters, Danny Meyer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Bassem Youssef, and Carla Hall. Season Two of “Tanya’s Table” features special guests Ayesha Curry, Danny Glover, Bonnie Raitt, Phil Rosenthal, Lars Ulrich, Lizz Wright, Ericka Huggins, Jonny Moseley, and others.

Holland has served as the president of the prestigious Les Dames d’Escoffier San Francisco chapter. The City of Oakland declared June 5th, 2012, as Tanya Holland Day for her "Significant Role in Creating Community and Establishing Oakland as a Culinary Center".

Holland holds a Bachelor of Arts in Russian Language and Literature from the University of Virginia, as well as a Grande Diplôme from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Burgundy, France.

 

TANYA’S LINKS:

Website: https://www.tanyaholland.com
Tanya Holland’s California Soul: https://a.co/d/2eeWLik
The Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook: https://a.co/d/7obR3TG
Newsletter: https://tanyaholland.substack.com/p/welcome-to-tanyas-kitchen-bulletin
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tanyas-table-podcast/id1524657839
Tanya’s Kitchen Table on OWN: https://www.oprah.com/app/tanyas-kitchen-table.html
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-holland-a95a283/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mstanyaholland/

 

Women Beyond a Certain Age is an award-winning weekly podcast with Denise Vivaldo. She brings her own lively, humorous, and experienced viewpoint to the topics she discusses with her guests. The podcast covers wide-ranging subjects of importance to older women.

 

SHOW LINKS

Website: https://womenbeyond.podbean.com
Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WomenBeyond/
Follow our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WomenBeyond/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenbeyondacertainage/
Episode archive: https://womenbeyond.podbean.com
Email us: [email protected]
Denise Vivaldo is the host of WBACA. Her info lives here: https://denisevivaldogroup.com/
More of Denise’s info is here: https://denisevivaldo.com
Cindie Flannigan is the producer WBACA. Her info lives here: https://linktr.ee/cindieflannigan
Denise and Cindie’s books: https://www.amazon.com/Denise-Vivaldo/e/B001K8QNRA%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share