{{short description|American chef}} {{Infobox chef <!-- for more information see :Template:Infobox chef/doc --> | name = Mashama Bailey | honorific_suffix = | image = The Grey, Savannah GA.jpg | caption = Bailey's restaurant, The Grey, in Savannah, Georgia | birth_name = Mashama Bailey | birth_date = | birth_place = Bronx, New York | style = Southern cuisine<br />French technique | education = Francis Lewis High School<br />Sullivan County Community College<br />Brooklyn College<br />Institute of Culinary Education | spouse = | children = | ratings = | restaurants = {{Plainlist| * The Grey * The Grey Market }} | television = {{Plainlist| * ''Top Chef'' * ''Chef's Table'' }} | prevrests = {{Plainlist| * Prune }} | website = }}
'''Mashama Bailey''' is an American chef trained in French technique who is currently cooking Southern cuisine. In 2019, Bailey was awarded a James Beard Award as best chef of the Southeast.<ref name="Zusel">{{cite web |last1=Zusel |first1=Yvonne |title=Mashama Bailey of Savannah's The Grey takes home James Beard Award |url=https://www.ajc.com/blog/atlanta-restaurants/mashama-bailey-savannah-the-grey-takes-home-james-beard-award/UujSU74DDcEokxuIL5UfTN/ |website=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |accessdate=8 May 2019 |language=english}}</ref> In 2022, Bailey was awarded a James Beard Award as Outstanding Chef.<ref name="Fabricant">{{cite web |last1=Fabricant|first1=Florence |title=Mashama Bailey and Owamni Win Top Honors at James Beard Awards |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/dining/james-beard-awards.html |website=The New York Times |accessdate=7 July 2022 |language=english}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Mashama Bailey was born to David and Catherine Bailey in the Bronx.<ref name="Garden & Gun" /> She was the eldest of three with one sister and one brother.<ref name="Edna Lewis">{{Cite book |title=Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original |last=Bailey |first=Mashama |publisher=UNC Press |year=2018 |editor-last=Franklin |editor-first=Sara B. |chapter=It's Not All Fried Chicken and Greasy Greens}}</ref> Bailey moved to Waynesboro, Georgia at the age of 2, Savannah, Georgia at 5, and then to Queens, New York when she was 11.<ref name="Savannah Morning News">{{Cite news |url=https://www.savannahnow.com/column-accent/2014-10-25/jane-fishman-new-savannah-restaurant-turns-strangers-partners |title=New Savannah restaurant turns strangers to partners |last=Fishman |first=Jane |date=2014-10-25 |work=Savannah Morning News}}</ref> Bailey learned to cook from her mother and grandmother.<ref name="Edna Lewis" />
After graduating from Francis Lewis High School, Bailey attended Sullivan County Community College<ref name="Garden & Gun" /> where she studied physical therapy and later switched to social work.<ref name="Atlantic">{{Cite magazine |last=Deruy |first=Emily |date=2015-10-07 |title=Breaking Into The Boys' Club from a Kitchen in Savannah |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/breaking-into-the-boys-club-from-a-kitchen-in-savannah/433044/ |magazine=The Atlantic}}</ref> Early in her career, Bailey worked at a homeless shelter in Brooklyn, New York. As the project underwent changes she was let go, an experience that became a catalyst for her to explore the culinary arts. <ref name="ICE">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ice.edu/blog/mashama-bailey-the-grey-chefs-table |title=Mashama Bailey's Big Year |last=Day |first=Ashley |date=2018-10-26 |website=Institute of Culinary Education}}</ref> She enrolled in Peter Kump's New York Cooking School, and after graduating began her culinary career at Aquagrill in SoHo. <ref name="ICE" />
Bailey, interested in exploring the wider range of careers available in the culinary arts, took a break from the restaurant industry, during which time she worked as a personal chef on the Upper East Side.<ref name="Eater Recap">{{Cite web |url=https://www.eater.com/2019/3/1/18241805/chefs-table-mashama-bailey-season-6-episode-1 |title='Chef's Table' Recap: Mashama Bailey Tells a Fresh Story About the South |last=Morabito |first=Greg |date=2019-03-01 |website=Eater}}</ref> This left some of her family concerned with the racial and class dynamics, as it seemed a return to how her grandmother migrated from Georgia to Manhattan and worked as a maid. Bailey's grandmother worked within several households, one of the more famous being that of Art Carney.<ref name="Garden & Gun">{{Cite magazine |last=Glock |first=Allison |date=January 2016 |title=Mashama Bailey's Home Cooking |url=https://gardenandgun.com/feature/mashama-baileys-home-cooking/ |magazine=Garden & Gun}}</ref>
Working as a personal chef did not inspire Bailey as she had hoped, and during this time she applied for a work-study program that led her to Château du Fey in Burgundy, France.<ref name="Edna Lewis" /> There she was mentored by Anne Willan who advised her to continue cooking in restaurants instead of exploring a culinary writing career. <ref name="Tasting Table">{{Cite web |url=https://www.tastingtable.com/dine/national/chef-mentors-curtis-stone-steven-satterfield-renee-erickson |title=Sauté It Forward |last=Kinsman |first=Kat |date=2016-04-25 |website=Tasting Table}}</ref>
==Career== Bailey started her career as an intern at Aquagrill in 2001, and also worked at David Burke and Donatella, and the Oak Room in the Plaza Hotel.<ref name="Food Newsfeed">{{Cite news |url=https://www.foodnewsfeed.com/fsr/chef-profiles/grey |title=Into the Grey |last=Klein |first=Danny |date=January 2016 |work=FSR}}</ref> In 2010, Bailey was hired at Prune, where she was quickly promoted to sous-chef and worked for four years.<ref name="Refinery29">{{Cite news |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/02/225705/mashama-bailey-the-grey-restaurant-chefs-table |title=Everything You Need To Know About Chef Mashama Bailey From Chef's Table |last=Harrison |first=Olivia |date=2019-02-28 |work=Refinery29}}</ref>
Startup entrepreneur John O. Morisano heard about Bailey through the chef and owner of Prune, Gabrielle Hamilton, and reached out to her about a long-abandoned, former Jim Crow segregated Greyhound station he'd bought in Savannah, Georgia.<ref name="Time Magazine">{{Cite magazine |last=Rockwood |first=Kate |date=2018 |title=The Grey |url=https://time.com/collection/worlds-greatest-places-2018/5366709/the-grey-savannah-georgia/ |magazine=Time}}</ref><ref name="NY Times">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/dining/the-grey-savannah-history-takes-another-turn.html |title=At the Grey in Savannah, History Takes Another Turn |last=Gordinier |first=Jeff |date=2015-07-27 |work=New York Times}}</ref> Across the street from the property is the Chatham County Courthouse where Bailey's parents were married in the 1980s.<ref name="Design Sponge">{{Cite news |url=http://www.designsponge.com/2015/05/a-tour-of-the-grey-in-savannah-chow-chow-recipe-weekly-wrap-up.html |title=A Tour of The Grey in Savannah + Chow Chow Recipe + Weekly Wrap Up |last=Bonney |first=Grace |date=May 2015 |work=Design Sponge}}</ref> The restaurant, named The Grey, was nominated for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant.<ref name="James Beard 2015">{{Cite web |url=https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2015-restaurant-and-chef-award-semifinalists |title=The 2015 Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalists |date=2015-02-18 |website=James Beard Foundation}}</ref>
On October 15, 2018, Morisano and Bailey opened The Grey Market in Savannah inspired by Southern lunch counters and New York City bodegas.<ref name="2018 Food & Wine">{{Cite magazine |last=Yagoda |first=Maria |date=2018-11-09 |title=Mashama Bailey Opens The Grey Market Just Blocks From Award-Winning Savannah Restaurant The Grey |url=https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/restaurants/grey-market-opens-savannah-georgia |magazine=Food & Wine}}</ref> Since 2017, Bailey has served as chairwoman of the Edna Lewis Foundation, which works to "revive, preserve, and celebrate the rich history of African-American cookery by cultivating a deeper understanding of Southern food and culture in America."<ref name="Refinery29" /><ref name="AJC">{{Cite news |url=https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/food--cooking/georgia-chef-fosters-legacy-southern-food-dame-edna-lewis/r9FozMAfBPfHsIOtJg6i3J/ |title=Georgia chef fosters legacy of Southern food dame Edna Lewis |last=Figueras |first=Ligaya |date=2018-02-07 |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution}}</ref>
==Awards== * The Grey was named one of ''Food & Wine''<nowiki/>'s best restaurants of 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/restaurants/worlds-best-restaurants|title=These Are the World's Best Restaurants: North America, South America, Africa and Middle East|last=Rodell|first=Besha|date=August 20, 2019|website=Food & Wine|language=en|access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> *Winner of the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southeast in 2019.<ref name="Zusel" /> * In 2018, she was nominated for the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef in the Southeast.<ref name="James Beard Semi">{{Cite web |url=https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/the-2018-james-beard-award-semifinalists |title=The 2018 James Beard Award Semifinalists |website=James Beard Foundation}}</ref> * The Grey was one of ''Food & Wine''<nowiki/>'s best restaurants of 2015.<ref name="2015 Food & Wine">{{Cite magazine |date=2015 |title=Food & Wine Restaurants of the Year 2015 |url=https://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/restaurants-year-2015-winners |magazine=Food & Wine |access-date=2019-03-13}}</ref> * The Grey was the 2017 Restaurant of the Year from Eater<ref name="Eater Award">{{Cite web |url=https://www.eater.com/2017/11/8/16620892/the-grey-restaurant-of-the-year |title=The Triumph of the Grey |last=Addison |first=Bill |date=2017-11-28 |website=Eater}}</ref> * The Grey was chosen as one of the best 100 places in the world by ''Time'' in 2018.<ref name="Time Magazine" /> * Winner James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in 2022. <ref name="Fabricant" />
==Television== She was a featured chef in the sixth season of Netflix's ''Chef's Table'' and was a guest on season 14, episode 6 of ''Top Chef''.
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Mashama}} Category:Living people Category:People from the Bronx Category:People from Savannah, Georgia Category:American women chefs Category:Chefs from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Institute of Culinary Education alumni Category:James Beard Foundation Award winners Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Chefs from New York (state) Category:SUNY Sullivan alumni