Join us for a conversation with chef and farmer Matthew Raiford of Gilliard Farms, and Chef Mashama Bailey of The Grey, moderated by restaurant owner and founder of The 40 Acres and a Mule Project, Adrian Lipscombe, as they explore their ancestral roots of farming and cooking in coastal Georgia and what it means to be a Black chef and farmer living near the water. This unique location has impacted the way that as a chef both Bailey and Raiford think about sourcing and engaging with their environment. It’s also informed they way they cook as they seek to express the story of their ancestors who farmed the land before them and honor the ingredients of their heritage.

We will also premiere the debut screening of MOFAD’s original virtual reality short film featuring Gilliard Farms as part of our upcoming exhibition, African/American: Making the Nation's Table. This thrilling virtual reality experience will give you the chance to explore the sprawling farmscape, rows of hibiscus, and chicken coop of their historic, centennial Gilliard Farms in Brunswick, Georgia.

Photo by Chia Chong

MASHAMA BAILEY

Mashama Bailey is the award-winning executive chef and partner of the critically acclaimed The Grey, set in a former Greyhound bus terminal in Savannah, Georgia as well as all-day counterpart The Grey Market in partnership with Johno Morisano. Since opening in December 2014, The Grey itself has earned a number of accolades, including being named a Food & Wine Restaurant of The Year, one of TIME Magazine's "The World's Greatest Places” and a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best New Restaurant award, thanks in large part to Mashama’s flavorful dishes that highlight regional ingredients. In 2018, Mashama and Johno opened The Grey Market, combining their love for New York City bodegas - the true lifeblood of any New Yorker - with the history and convenience of the Southern lunch counter. 

With the premiere of Netflix’s Chef’s Table Season 6, Mashama became the first African American chef to star on the show. Prior to opening The Grey, Mashama worked under the tutelage of Gabrielle Hamilton at New York City’s Prune.

Mashama is the chairwoman of the Edna Lewis Foundation, whose mission is to honor and extend the legacy of Edna Lewis by creating opportunities for African Americans in the fields of cooking, agriculture, food studies, and storytelling.

In January 2021, Mashama and Johno debut their first book, Black, White and The Grey, which tells the story of their distinct partnership and how the two - a Black female chef and a White male entrepreneur - came together to build a restaurant attempting to reshape cultural conversation beyond food.

ADRIAN LIPSCOMBE

Adrian Lipscombe, a native Texan, is the owner of Uptowne Café.  She opened Uptowne Café restaurant on the Northside of La Crosse, WI to create a catalyst for change and to help revitalize the area.  Adrian’s food focuses on Southern cuisines by using local ingredients and working with farmers in the Coulee Regional and Organic Valley area.  Adrian draws her inspiration and storytelling through experiences from life and African American culinary history to tell the story of African American influence in our food culture today. 

Currently, Adrian is working on the 40 Acres Project. The mission of the 40 Acres Project is to preserve the legacy of Black agriculture and Black foodways through the purchase of Black-owned land. The intention is to practice traditional Black agricultural methods and provide resources for the food industry, create educational opportunities, a safe haven for historical archived information on traditional Black agriculture and foodways, and provide partnerships with organizations, Black farmers, and the hospitality industry. 

Adrian holds a Masters in Architecture and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Texas at Austin concentrating on the behavior of minorities to land use and transportation. 

MATTHEW RAIFORD

James Beard Foundation Award-Nominated Chef and Farmer Matthew Raiford’s roots run deep along the Gullah-Geechee corridor that spans the South Car- olina Lowcountry to northern Florida. His great-great-great grandfather, a former South Carolina slave, purchased and assembled the lands that became Gilliard Farms, just west of Brunswick, Georgia, more than 150 years ago. Raiford grew up breaking the dirt and trading crookneck squash for sweet potatoes, raising hogs and chickens, and only going to the grocery store for sundries. After a military career then graduation from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Raiford returned to the farm in 2011 to continue the traditions of his Gullah-Geechee heritage and to create an au- thentic farm-to-fork experience for locals. He received certification as an ecological horticulturalist from the University of California’s Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.

He served until recently as the program coordinator and associate professor of culinary arts at the College of Coastal Georgia. In 2015, Raiford, the former executive chef at Little St. Simon’s Resort, and his partner, Jovan Sage, a food alchemist, opened The Farmer and the Larder on Newcastle Street, helping jumpstart the revival of Bruns- wick’s historic downtown. Raiford has appeared in Southern Living, Golden Isles, Pa- prika Southern, and Savannah magazines, and is a frequent presenter at food and wine festivals throughout the country.