A 19 year vet in the food and beverage industry, personal chef, mompreneur and founder, Stephanie affectionately known as ‘Chefanie Nicole,’ Willis is no stranger to hard work. Starting modestly at dish and humbly hustling her way up the ladder to A GM of a multi-million dollar restaurant [owned by an Iron Chef], she knew her passion was in the kitchen.
Coming from a literal melting pot of cultures [African American Father, Filipino Mother & Turkish Step-Mother], afforded Stephanie an expansive palate. Produce picking at local farms, Italian Market runs and the aroma of cast-iron skillet fried chicken are vivid memories created with her grandmother, her muse, who’s recipes she’d often try to replicate. Yet with no formal culinary training, her passion was a project that seemed impossible to bring to fruition. Perfecting her gift at home and posting unpretentious pictures of what she would prepare on social media outlets eventually turned likes into bookings.
Running a restaurant whilst moonlighting as a part time caterer and being a full time Mom, was overwhelming to say the least. However, it was also the fuel that fed the fire for Stephanie to take the risk, bet on herself and double down. Since doing so she has literally fed the streets with carefully curated, locally sourced meals, prepared with love [eat prep love]. She has worked with some of Philadelphia's top influencers and prepared meals for public figures in both the entertainment and professional sports worlds. She has hosted events fusing food, art and culture as well as hosted pop-up’s, on a whim, with no backing to benefit the less fortunate on a large scale [yep, before everybody eats]. Since, Stephanie has been featured on various food blogs [Eater, Philly Mag, Inquirer, VOGUE], hosted food vlogs [My New Philly & ReMIXX], competed in and won local cooking competitions [So You Think You Can Cook 2018], was recognized as one of Philadelphia’s Local Hero’s [Edible Philly 2019] and was a contestant on Masterchef season 9.
Chefanie hopes to inspire young women of color interested in culinary to chase after their goals. Find your niche, master your hustle and grind it out!
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Kurt found his culinary spark cooking southern style dishes, alongside his grandmothers as a child. Since then, he's went on to hone his skills in some of Philadelphia’s most esteemed kitchens. In 2017 Kurt decided to use his culinary skills to rally his community around ending mass incarceration.
Chef and activist Kurt Evans’s work centers around criminal justice reform in America. Through his ground-breaking End Mass Incarceration (EMI) dining series, Evans orchestrates dinners themed around the criminal justice system. By combining his revolutionary restaurant business model with his community-focused activism, Evans is driving change across the culinary landscape and far beyond.
In 2022, Evans was named “Outstanding Citizen” by PACDC Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations. In 2021 was named “Rising Talent” finalists from The Art Of Plating, “Champion of Change” World’s 50 Best Restaurants by San Pellegrino. He was also featured in Food & Wine, Bon Appetite, Good Morning America, and Eater.
AZIZA YOUNG
Aziza is a chef with a passion for transforming traditional recipes into extraordinary meals. At the age of 9, her father started teaching her how to cook, and by age 12 she was working for her Pop-pop’s catering company. Her only professional training happened in her junior year of high school, when she went to Montgomery County Technical School for Culinary Arts. In 2014, a year after opening her own catering business, Aziza was cast on Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen and worked with Chef Gordon Ramsay. Since then, she has been a rising star on television and in the Philadelphia culinary scene. In 2017, she won second place in Reality Rally’s Celebrity Chef Cook Off. She received a Certificate for Culinary Excellence through the Black Chefs Association two years in a row beginning in 2017. In 2018, she was awarded the People's Choice Award for best Short Rib Lasagna and partnered with a friend to open up their first restaurant that fall. Their joint venture received two awards from Open Table for Best New Restaurant and made it on the Top 24 Best Restaurants in the Western Suburbs. On April 23, 2019, she appeared on one of her favorite shows, the Food Network’s Chopped, and was a runner up. In addition to her many accomplishments, she has also done several pop-up around the city of Philadelphia.
GREGORY HEADEN
The last chef to be trained by Chef Georges Perrier of the famed Le Bec Fin; and was the executive chef of his French Bistro. While there chef Greg received a 2 bell review from acclaimed food critic Craig Laban. Chef also participated in ChefDance 2016 for the George Perrier tribute dinner in honor of his movie “King Georges.” Greg wanted to further enhance his skills so he did a brief stage at PerSe training under Eli Kaimeh and Corey Chow. He was then recruited by Starr Restaurants and agreed to come aboard as a Chef for Jones, 2 years, then The Dandelion.
While doing his share of time in a corporate environment, he realized that he missed being creative, so when given the opportunity he decided to compete on the infamous Food Network show “Chopped;” and won; 2019. He participated in a variety of collaborative dinners until he became the Executive Chef of a Modern Southern cuisine restaurant, SOUTH, where he developed a menu authentic to its region and heritage using elevated techniques..
MALIK ALI
Malik Ali is a nationally known private chef who loves to recreate food that his mother made for him as a child. Chef Malik grew in South Philadelphia near 18th & Christian Street where his love for food began. Being one of thirteen siblings, Chef Malik was the one who loved spending the most time in the kitchen helping his mother prepare large meals for the family. Some of the meals that he helped his mother cook and has now recreated himself, was the fried chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, and bread pudding for dessert.
After Chef Malik graduated high school, he went on to attend The Art Institute of Philadelphia. At the culinary school, he was great student who was determined to receive as much knowledge of different foods and the details in preparing them. Chef Malik graduated with his Associate Degree in Culinary Arts. Since graduating, he has been featured in several magazines and in news articles including Billy Penn, Who Next Chef List, Eater’s Young Gunz Semifinalist, and was declared one Zagat’s 30 under 30 National. Chef Malik received those accolades for the outstanding dishes he prepares, competitions he participated in, and other works that involved his food being loved by the people.