Storytelling comes in many forms that take place with food as a medium. It especially resonates with us as you get to know something about the chef, share an experience with others and even learn about the culture that it is derived from. We took some time to talk with Chef Nyesha Arrington about her culinary journey as well as cheffing in a TV landscape. We were first introduced to her on BRAVO's Top Chef Season 9 Cheftestant and since then, she has appeared on a number of shows from Food Network's Tournament of Champions and Guy's Grocery Games to name a few. This fall on FOX, she will be on Next Level Chef alongside Gordon Ramsay and Gino D'Acampo as each of them mentors a recruited group of talented chefs. We talk about her culinary journey, the power of identity, her health journey and being her authentic self wherever she goes.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with food?

CHEF NYESHA ARRINGTON: Well, I honestly feel like being a chef and being in the food space is really something that was always part of my life journey and it was definitely written in the stars before I was born. It’s something that has always been a passion of mine and it’s not something that I had to learn how to love, it comes very naturally to me. Sharing, the idea of nurturing and celebrating people and artists and Mother Nature as a whole, is kind of what is my grounding force in terms of craft and career.

AM: What was your culinary journey in terms of where you trained and kitchens that you worked in?

CHEF NA: The first kitchen I worked in was a restaurant called Jiraffe which was in Santa Monica. I was an intern there for about a year and I was there while I was going to culinary school in 2001. From there, I went to another restaurant called Melisse a 2-star Michelin. I was there for a long time and after there, I went to a 3-star Michelin restaurant called The Mansion which was helmed by Joël Robuchon and he was the Chef of the Century and has the most Michelin stars. He’s a legend to say the least! I worked for him for a few years and then I moved to the Virgin Islands and I was there for a year and that’s when I had my first Executive Chef job which was an interesting experience to meet people that are not of your same background. It was a challenge and it really taught me a lot of leadership skills and how to motivate people that aren’t of the same background as you. From there, I moved to Hawaii and I was there for about a year in Maui. But that’s when Top Chef called and said, “hey Nyesha, you’ve been on our radar.” So, I did Top Chef and that’s what sparked my venture into TV land and cheffing. That was back in 2012 for Season 9. All the while, prior to that it was about laying down that foundation and groundwork to being a good chef and learning technique. It was about learning how to be a food person I guess you could say.

I did Top Chef and I did a few other shows. One was on Food Network that aired shortly after that and that’s kind of the large brush stroke of the journey!

AM: That journey is amazing. We’re huge fans of Top Chef and have had the pleasure in including their stories in our issues from Chef Brooke Williamson, Gail Simmons and Richard Blaise to name a few. What was it about that community as your Instagram shows how you are involved with so many people from there. What was it about the show that made you want to align your brand with what they have going on?

CHEF NA: I think that at that time, I was seeing people in the food space that were on TV. I think that because I grew up in a sports background and I played soccer in high school soccer, I was playing softball in the very early stages of my life when I was 6 years old until I was 13. My dad was the coach of my softball team and I think that those early stages of my life, playing on a team, being part of a squad so to speak and for sure being competitive, really resonated with me in terms of life skills and brain development. The idea that you can be on a team and win, that’s what drove me to do Top Chef because ultimately I can still hone my craft in this kind of aesthetic. I’ve slowly started to accept the fact that I am a competitive person and not so much against other people, but myself! I like to be a person that is a growth mindset person who loves to put out their best. It’s what drew me to it. I hadn’t actually watched the program – maybe an episode or two but there are some really die hard Top Chef fans out there. I wasn’t one of those people because I was living in real life and cooking in real life. Then I went on the show and did the competitions. It was awesome and a great experience and being part of the Top Chef community is amazing. It definitely helped launch my brand if you will. I remember, this is when I was at my first Executive Chef position at the time and people were coming to the restaurant. Sales were doubling and people recognized who I was as a character and they would come in and say, “you were such a class act, humble and gracious and fun to watch.” You know, it was super cool and an amazing experience to feel that. I had never been recognized before and it was really fun.

AM: Shake Shack is an office favorite in our studio. Tell me about the collaboration that you had as well as your line of sauces that you are releasing separately from this eatery.

CHEF NA: I did a collaboration with Shake Shack earlier this year with a sauce that I have called Aisoon Sauce. We do very limited editions of the sauce and it’s inspired by my grandmother and she’s a Korean ingredient and essentially, it’s a grilling sauce so you can use it on vegetables, meat, a soup base or a vinaigrette base. It’s an all purpose, all around Korean-inspired sauce that was inspired by my grandma.

AM: That’s really interesting and how does your background as an African American and Korean Chef inspire the foods that you create?

CHEF NA: You know, it’s interesting because I come from a French fine dining background in terms of the kitchens that I have worked in and is very influential in how I approach technique. So that’s an interesting way to look at cooking as a whole. It’s either driven by ingredients, where you source them and also technique. So, my background being African American-Korean, I grew up with a lot – let’s say from, 0-6, being influenced by my grandmothers food from the Korean side very traditionally and a lot of foreign flavors. That’s what I saw as that’s what she cooked and it was very traditional. Then, after she passed away, being influenced by the other side of my family was huge! My dad’s side is from Pass Christian, Mississippi, I’m a 3rd generation Angeleno – but on his side, there was a lot of Hot Water Cornbread and delicious Southern style cooking and those are the foods that I grew up eating.

Life is a journey and it’s all about learning. Right before the pandemic, I did this dinner and it was the first time that I explored a menu that I felt was truly a form of self-expression. It was a very Afro-Korean inspired menu and that was super cool. My style is very global. I draw from an inspiration of Los Angelos being my terroir – I cook very seasonally and I try to cook what Mother Nature is celebrating at that time so right now it’s stone fruit, corn, chilis and eggplants which are things that are eating very well and I think that that’s important to be in this sort of idea of a circadian rhythm and our planet has a pulse and there’s a time when she’s giving us things based on a temperature and climate that is going on. That ethos is based in my cooking and I don’t know if that is even being rooted in my race. I think it’s about celebrating the human race and that’s what drives my cooking which is so very unconventional because what you see is chefs that are Mexican are making Mexican food and those from China are making Chinese food and that’s not how I am approaching food and it’s so interesting and something that I have a lot of conversations with internally because the idea of identity and how the world sees you and how you receive and perceive the world! Anyone can be their own individual and it’s like for me, my inspiration in cooking is that it transcends the idea of ethnicity and it’s really about human connection and that is my favorite ingredient and that’s what draws and drives my passion for connectivity. Food happens to be that media for me and food is that form of self-expression. It’s also a form of nurturing and for me that’s what drives me and that it is an art. It’s not art on the wall but it is a craft and it can be applied to anything. The idea of something being someone’s craft, it’s a lifelong journey of discovery. I love to share that with people and my food from that lens. I know it’s long winded, but I wanted to be able to articulate that.

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AM: I like this answer. As a Black Co-Founder of this magazine and as a fashion stylist, when you’re talking about fashion, I don’t style from a Black background, I have a luxury meets high/low meets Boho aesthetic which is also vibing off of the person and the project that I am working on. I love if you have a pair of sneakers and pair it with an exotic top and making this visual texture experience. That’s not me necessarily being Black, it’s just me loving what I love and mixing it together to tell that particular story.

You’re probably the first person that I have spoken with that in talking about how they approach their food, it’s not based on the background that you’re perceived to come from per se. I love that food storytelling much like in style which has visual texture and storytelling can have those same roots and thought processes. People do need to understand that the experience you are giving others doesn’t always have to come from a prescribed place of an actual experience that you have grown up in and that one can assume that your dishes are going to be collard greens and ham when you want to share another experience entirely.

CHEF NA: I’m telling you man! It’s so nice to have this open and honest conversation about this. I have to tell you that it has been a real reckoning of learning how to explain that because that is how I feel and I have to assume that not everyone knows where I am coming from and so I have to say the words and to hear from yourself as a POC to explain that theory behind art and the vibe – that is the true art of the craft. The whole collard greens and things like that, the thing is that’s such an interesting dialogue because I don’t think that I’m doing a disservice by not cooking the ancestral food, I’m Black everyday – you know? It’s about the lens of an artist! It’s also, I’m a woman so those two things, I have to be frank because when people ask me in interviews all the time – “what’s it like to be a woman in the kitchen, tell me about your Korean background,” – that specifically because in 2008, that’s when my first PR piece came out for me as a brand and as a chef. They talked so much and it stuck in the media and I’ve been seeing it for the last 17 years that the conversation is, “Nyesha Arrington Korean and Black,” and I’m like, ok yeah but I don’t know. It’s interesting to see what sticks and now after all of these talks about inclusion and I’m like, “wow, what’s really going on?” I’m an artist at the core of my being and that comes from my father who is my best friend. He is the best human that I know who happens to be my dad. He’s just an amazing person who has such a universal perspective about life, well read person, he puts himself in other people’s shoes all the time and he would give an ant a piece of food. The guy is an angel and I’m just so grateful for him and I just try to make my family proud with my cooking and things. So this whole Next Level Chef, it’s going to be a huge pillar in my life and I think it just puts a different outlook on cooking, sharing that in the media space and it’s going to be so powerful you know?

AM: I have to say that your scope on identity is a conversation that everyone needs to have with themselves and others especially when it comes to those that have management and people so that they can understand understand how you want to be presented and they’re in step with your vibe. Because if it can’t be articulated to them and they can’t embrace that this is who you are, what it means, etc it’s tough because you will continue to see that disconnect from them and those that reach out to you as the message isn’t being properly placed.

CHEF NA: It’s becoming –

AM: A fight.

CHEF NA: Yeah man and I’m just leaning into it. I think before, I didn’t know and as life happens, you just collect the data and as humans that is who we are. We are literal expressions of what is happening to us. Our duty is to celebrate the past, have the life experience and then carry that into the future because at the end of the day, we’re all storytellers – what else do we have? We’re telling stories and we’re trying to continue and share that. It’s interesting with the integration of tech – it’s fascinating!

AM: For sure!

From what we've been reading, your show Next Level Chef is an interesting concept and has a range of dynamics that make it unique in the food genre. Tell us more about this!

CHEF NA: Basically, probably 6 months ago, I went to guest chef on Gordon’s MasterChef. I went in and I did a dish and this dish which is so ironic because Gordon worked for Joël Robuchon. I did too. I made the classic Robuchon potato and he was – I can’t even tell you. He was standing off to my right and I was cooking and doing the potato and demoing it for the 4 cooks in front of me. The task was for them to recreate it. As I’m doing it, I can feel Gordon’s energy emanating off of him and vibes are real. What words couldn’t tell me, he pictured himself in me on the line and that was the energy that I was receiving and it fed me and I was like, wow this is so cool! Someone who worked for the same chef as me, who’s doing the TV life and is the #1 chef monetarily.

As a 17 year old girl on the line, I found this very early on when I was at a 2-star Michelin restaurant and it’s challenging to say the least. I remember saying to myself, “Nyesha, you need to push and work your ass off to eventually get out from behind the stove.” Because, I saw very quickly that if you don’t create options for yourself for growth, you get stuck and I never wanted to be that. I always had a big dream. I say that because when I did some research, Gordon Ramsay was always one of those people that’s doing it right and scaling properly in terms of brand building and all the things. In that moment when I was cooking the dish, it was just so cool to see a set and by that time, I had been on many sets – but to see a set driven by a chef was just a whole new world. It’s not a random producer who’s like painting this dream for the crew to recreate. It’s a kitchen and it felt like I was on a real kitchen again.

I did the dish, was on the show, left the set and Gordon basically came running out and was like, ”hey, who are you?” and shook my hand. My heart was pounding and he hugged me and tears just fell out of my eyes. It was a beautiful moment because I felt safe and I knew that this guy sees me. We shared that moment, his assistant was there and he was like reach out to her and they actually did! So how it came about was the Executive Producer who was there that day, we started talking and he asked me what a show would look like for me. It’s just like what I said to you, celebrating people, storytelling and I’m saying this more and more and leaning into it – I am not a conventional chef and I shouldn’t try to shove my circle into a square peg, let me be a circle and that’s ok! It’s pretty cool and empowering. They saw my authentic self and they asked what spoke to me and I said, the idea of mentorship, coloring outside of the lines – knowing the rules for sure, but being an artist. We had a few chats and then he reached out and said, we have a show called Next Level Chef, he gave me the premise and let me know that it would work well for me as it would be mentor based. I would have a small team of 5 and Gordon would have a team of 5 and we would mentor these chefs to win $250,000 – life changing! I am so freaking excited to say the least! I am so stoked and I can truly make an impact on people with just sharing. We’re looking for a 3rd judge and it’s going to be so cool.

AM: Before we let you go, in prepping for this interview, when looking at your IG, which is a great way to get some insights, we know that fitness is important to you. We noticed that you have worked out with Lacey Stone and we have featured her a few times here at Athleisure Mag and we love her vibes! She just has an authenticity and when I talked with her in person, I connected with her in so many ways and found myself just opening up and being vulnerable with her. She truly cares about her craft and just has a love for people.

CHEF NA: Um you freaking should be, I just had dinner with her a couple of days ago and it was the first time that we had actually hung out without working out. I have to be honest. She really changed my life and I want to pay her mad respect right now. In 2019, I joined her squad camp. Girl, this is real facts right now and it was a real epiphany for me. I was surrounded by strong, badass, kind, vulnerable, authentic humans and it literally changed my life and the idea of strength. Strength shouldn’t only be associated with masculinity and I had never been led by a strong female. The way she conducted her program, her professionalism, her classes, she’s a very present human – it changed my freaking life. I had only been led by European males so I think that in the background, I had only associated strength and ego from that perspective because how else is a European male supposed to lead me other than by what they know, you know? It’s toxic actually because there is a lot of that in my field. So to be lead by that and quite frankly, I have lead like that early on because that is what I was taught. So it has been a process of unlearning.

So when I went to her bootcamp girl, it changed my life! I was the most fit – that was pre-pandemic and now I’m the strongest that I have been in my whole life. I did her class yes and I started out with her 2019 and I lost 22lbs and gained a ton of muscle and it really kickstarted my healthy lifestyle. She’s doing these outdoor workouts on this cool tennis court and she was like, “girl, you’re strong AF and I want to come out and workout with you now!” So, she’s going to come out to my gym which I am going to mention in my ROUTIN3S because it is my favorite!

IG @NyeshaJoyce

PHOTOS COURTESY | Nyesha Arrington