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Mavis-Jay • Chef & Activist

@chefmavisjay

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🖤James Beard Award Winner
🖤Founder of @queersatbeards
🖤Culinary Director @communitykitchennyc pilot
🖤If Lena Waithe and Julia Child had a food baby

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

“Albany’s always been about coming home and celebrating good times with the people I love,” says classically trained chef and activist Mavis-Jay Sanders. Sanders leverages her hospitality background to uplift, empower, and nourish some of New York City’s most vulnerable communities it was recognized for her efforts with a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award. Read more about this Albany native and the journey that took her to New York City. Pick up a copy today or read online by tapping the link in our bio. #swgaliving #swgalivingmagazine #truesouthernlifestyle

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Some gatherings feed more than the body. They feed the spirit. 💚

This weekend, FarmerJawn attended for the first time, @blackfarmerfund Abundance Festival at @riseandrootfarm in Chester, New York, where we visited Karen Washington, known to so many of us as Mama K @karwasher

Farmers from across the Hudson Valley and the Northeast gathered to speak life into one another, honor the farmers and elders who came before us, celebrate those still with us, and give thanks for our ancestors who are no longer here.

I was invited to take part in the farmer storytelling, and got to share the FarmerJawn story alongside other farmers.

We ate. We laughed. We danced. We celebrated the abundance we create together.

FarmerJawn produce was on the lunch menu as prepared with care by @chefmavisjay . It was an honor to bring a piece of our farm to this beautiful gathering of community, family, and legacy.

Earlier this year, Mama K told me, “It’s Y’all Turn”
Those words stay close to my heart. We are the future. We are next. We are now. And we have to stick together and take care of one another. So come on Y’all, I’ll see you all at @blackurbangrowers in New Orleans next month…we have work to do.

Thank you, Mama K, and thank you to every farmer, elder, ancestor, organizer, chef, and community member helping us grow what comes next.

Agriculture is the Culture. 🌱🥕🌽🌶️
#agricultureistheculture #grateful #knowyourfarmer #blackagriculture

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Guest chef Mavis-Jay Sanders led our field kitchen for a second night back at Brooklyn Grange. Culinary Director of Community Kitchen NYC and a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award recipient, she’s spent her career reshaping what hospitality means when it’s rooted in community and that showed in every course, built around the season’s harvest. As the sun dropped, the Manhattan skyline lit up around the table.

Photos by @agardenofsorts_

host farmer Ben Flanner | @brooklyngrange Brooklyn Grange, Brooklyn, NY

guest chef Mavis-Jay Sanders | @chefmavisjay  Community Kitchen NYC, New York, NY

guest winemakers Julia & Alex Alvarez-Perez | @usoniawine Usonia Wine, Ovid, NY

guest brewery Sam Richardson, Matt Monahan & Andrew Burman | @otherhalfnyc Other Half Brewing, Brooklyn, NY

guest produce partner
Farm To People | @farmtopeople

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Still thinking about how awesome last week’s @culinarybreedingnetwork Variety Showcase at @glynwoodorg in Cold Spring, NY was.

I was so grateful to be there with the @utopianseedproject, spending an afternoon tasting, learning, talking about seed, and reconnecting with many wonderful people working to build a more vibrant food system.

One of my favorite things about the Culinary Breeding Network is their mission to connect the culinary world with agriculture and plant breeding. They create a space where breeders, farmers, chefs, bakers, seed growers, researchers, and eaters can help shape the future of our crops—how they look, taste, and grow. A great crop isn’t just about a successful breeding trial; it must also make its way into farms, kitchens, onto tables, and into the hearts of eaters.

At the Showcase, new and emerging varieties of vegetables, grains, fruits, and more were paired with the creative people who help us understand their potential. Flavor, resilience, biodiversity, culture, and seed sovereignty all come together at the same table.

And perhaps most importantly: FRIENDS. So many old friends, new friends, familiar faces, and inspiring folks I was meeting for the first time. Truly, it’s a gift to be part of this growing community.

Big thanks to the Utopian Seed Project, Lane Selman, the entire Culinary Breeding Network, Glynwood, all the breeders and farmers, and every chef, baker, researcher, seed steward, and curious eater who made the day so special.

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In this week’s AmNewsFOOD video, our food editor Kysha Harris spends some time with Chef Mavis-Jay Sanders beyond the plate.

From her Ferragosto collaboration with Briscola Trattoria chef-owner Silvia Barban to the work that continues to drive her, Mavis-Jay talks food, hospitality, community, Black women chefs, and what’s ahead.

Watch the video and read this week’s AmNewsFOOD story.

Link in bio.

📍 Briscola Trattoria

@chefmavisjay
@chefsilviabarban
@briscolabk

🎥 video editor: @soulrebelpro

#food #chef #NYCFood #hospitality #AmNewsFOOD

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In this week’s AmNewsFOOD, our food editor Kysha Harris heads to Briscola Trattoria in Brooklyn to experience Chef Mavis-Jay Sanders cooking with chef-owner Silvia Barban for Ferragosto (Italy’s traditional end-of-summer celebration).

Some meals are about more than what’s on the plate. This one brought together Italian and American Southern flavors, old friends, new connections, a seat at the table—and some damn good food along the way.

Link in bio.

📍 Briscola Trattoria, Crown Heights, Brooklyn

@chefmavisjay
@chefsilviabarban
@briscolabk

#food #chef #NYCFood #BrooklynEats #AmNewsFOOD

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Last night we felt like eating something different so we opened up the 8it app and saw @chefsilviabarban & @chefmavisjay were hosting a collab pop-up dinner to celebrate Ferragosto at @briscolabk 🤩 A no brainer choice.

Lock in, get 8it and never miss NYC’s most delicious collabs like this 😎

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The beginning of June kicked off with portraits that expanded beyond my imagination. The homie and great visionary @farrincurated put together “Sit, Chef” here in Chicago. The goal was for chefs to step away from the restaurant and into the studio to just…be. Following that was “A Round of Shots” for hospitality professionals in DC where we met some cool and vibrant individuals. Right after that, I ventured down to Charlotte to execute “Last Call” with @usbg_clt. People, food, and beverage go hand in hand. One doesn’t exist without the other. I’m grateful for all of those who showed up for themselves to be seen. Thank you all for allowing me to photograph you
🤲🏾

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A new meaning of BFF - the best people in Food and Farming. This was my fav reel to make. These are my beautiful people… the ones who bring joy to this work every single day. The ones who care for land and water and have cared for me and my family along the way. Build your community, plant roots, dance, and grow! #bff #danceteria #community #thankful #reelitfeelit❤️❤️

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Ignorance is Bliss

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Four years in, and @queersatbeards never disappoints!
@nobodysdarlingbar was packed with people from all walks of life and a positive energy that was felt even before you walked in the door.

Thank you to our dear friend @chefmavisjay for always inviting and allowing us to partake in such a special night.

Here’s to the people who continue to make hospitality a place where everyone belongs! 💗

📸: @moll_jean_nye

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