To reach the lower-level champagne cellars at the G.H. Mumm headquarters in Reims, France, you must first walk down a winding staircase that leads approximately 45 feet underground. The further you head into the dimly lit caves, the more of G.H. Mumm’s story is revealed—and the same is true when delving into the life story of their brand ambassador, the James Beard Award-winning chef Kwame Onwuachi.
In May, I tagged along as he traveled to Reims for the first time (with a quick stop in Paris) for an up-close look at Mumm’s cellars, lush vineyards, and Moulin de Vezernay, the brand’s iconic windmill. During the cellar tour, Onwuachi kept getting pulled away for a photo shoot that was happening simultaneously. In between calmly posing in front of huge barrels and dark passageways, he popped in and out of our small group, listening to our guide rattle off notable facts, and roaming around the caves to playfully scare people when he could. As I walked through, I was stunned by the sheer size of the place. The cellars span about 15 miles and showcase tall stacks of aging bottles, precious unopened champagne from the 1800s, and giant old tanks that were used to store wine in the 1940s.
Tattooed, photogenic, and impossibly friendly, Onwuachi seems like the perfect pairing for Mumm—the ideal of-the-moment millennial to help a nearly 200-year-old brand capture the interest of a new generation. “It was gorgeous. I had a lot of fun running around the vineyards and learning about the grapes,” says Onwuachi of the picturesque landscapes outside of Reims. But the jaunt to the Champagne region also meant prying himself away from his new restaurant, Tatiana, at a moment when foodies all over New York City are clamoring to get in. Located inside David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, Tatiana is named after Onwuachi’s older sister, who he says was “very emotional and incredibly proud” during her first meal there. The eatery, which recently received the 2023 Resy One to Watch award from the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, pays homage to food from Nigeria (Onwuachi’s father’s homeland), Louisiana (where his mother was born), and the Caribbean dishes and corner store treats he ate as a kid in the Bronx.
As the son of a caterer, Onwuachi’s training in the kitchen began long before he was “killing it” at the Culinary Institute of America. “My favorite memories of growing up are cooking with my mom and my sister and learning recipes that have been passed down in our family from generation to generation,” he says. His fresh culinary approach (it’s not every day you see Nigerian-inspired Egusi dumplings or the words “hot pocket” and “bodega special” on an upscale menu) has not only won him scores of praise, but it’s also quietly changing perceptions of fine dining—and who gets to lead its kitchens. In March, Tatiana scored a glowing three-star review from The New York Times. One month later, the publication also named it the best restaurant in NYC. Not bad for a former McDonald’s employee.
Achieving this level of success at 33 years old—in an industry where many Black chefs still struggle to advance—is impressive, and even more so given the instability and financial hardships Onwuachi faced growing up. “It’s been wild,” says Onwuachi of his trajectory. Decades before he built an enviable career, Onwuachi endured a rocky and painful childhood, which he chronicled in his 2019 memoir, Notes from a Young Black Chef. He was kicked out of private school in the Bronx and college in Bridgeport, CT; he joined a gang (albeit unintentionally); hawked M&Ms and Snickers on the subway; and later sold weed to keep money in his pockets. Cooking ultimately steered his life onto a positive path, even if he never expected to become a professional chef. “I come from a long line of restaurateurs and chefs, so everybody in my family cooked. When I had to get a job to provide for myself, I thought I would work in restaurants until I figured out what I really wanted in life. But I just kept working in restaurants. Later, I wanted to [have my own business], and the only thing that I knew how to do was cook,” he admits.
Sticking with it has clearly paid off. Onwuachi says his city mentality helped him make a smooth transition into the Culinary Institute and thrive in the industry (he’s worked at high-pressure, prestigious restaurants like Per Se and Eleven Madison Park). “In the Bronx, you’ve got to grow up fast,” he says. “It’s a tough environment. You have to be able to stand up for yourself, believe in yourself, project confidence, and not care about what other people say about you. And that makes you focus on your craft. You don’t need outside validation. That’s the biggest thing I learned from my childhood, and it’s helped me in this business.”
That’s not the only lesson from his youth that continues to make an impact today. In his memoir, Onwuachi reveals an epiphany he had at the age of 12, while living with his paternal grandfather in a rural Nigerian town. After 18 months there, “I learned what it meant to have space to be who I really was without being penned in by what people thought I was,” he writes. That sense of freedom appears to have stuck with Onwuachi. He is just as comfortable wearing black nail polish, attention-grabbing clothing (his fashion favorites include Rick Owens, Chanel, Asparagus, and Louis Vuitton), and hooping in a durag as he is donning a crisp white chef’s jacket and getting a new restaurant off the ground. Handling the demands of a buzzy establishment like Tatiana is no walk in the park (or vineyard), but to keep stress in check, Onwuachi likes to remind himself that “it’s just dinner.” And sometimes it’s okay to take a minute to drink it all in.