Culinary Creatives Chat: Chef Renee Blackman
“I want to inspire others to take the time to learn their craft.”
By Angela Xu
updated on 09 Oct, 2024
Whether you know her as a private chef in the Hamptons or as the fan favorite on the Netflix series Pressure Cooker, you know this: Renee Blackman is bold in the kitchen.
Hailing from the Caribbean, she injects island flair into her cooking. But don’t attempt to file her food under one type of cuisine. It’s important to Blackman that you understand the full picture: she is a traveler, she seeks adventure. Notes of playfulness and whimsy are woven into her dishes, reflecting a lighthearted personality beneath her serious facade. Ultimately, Blackman leans on her intuition and taste in order to translate who she is onto the plate.
Take, for example, her latest creation, which attendees will get to sample at EatOkra’s inaugural Culinary Creative Conference on October 13. Blackman lays curry couscous atop a bed of yogurt. She then mixes in fresh cucumber, golden raisins, red onion, cilantro, and toasted almonds. On top goes a beautiful piece of salmon flavored with a little bit of jerk seasoning and gochujang. It’s a surprising combination, but it all goes remarkably well together.
And while her creations exemplify the technique of a classically trained chef, Blackman has charted her own path. With no formal culinary school training, her trajectory has been marked by self-taught, on-the-line experience. Blackman’s inspiring career can teach us all a thing or two about refinement and resilience.
Born and raised in Barbados, Blackman attributes her early love for food to her family. Food was always the thing that she looked forward to growing up, from her mother’s homemade burgers on Saturdays to her grandma’s baked chicken on Sundays. She fondly recalls how her grandmother would take the juices from the baked chicken, throw in a medley of vegetables, add a hint of mustard and ketchup, and let that thicken into a delectable gravy. “It was so simple, and it hit the spot every Sunday,” says Blackman.
However, food wasn’t always on the front burner. Blackman immigrated to the US at the age of eight, and, despite enjoying and excelling in cooking classes in high school, her West Indian parents never viewed cooking as a viable career path for her. Blackman appeased them by taking a stable job at a hospital, but she never stopped dreaming about the kitchen. Her curiosity about food grew until one day she decided to quit her desk job and wholeheartedly pursue her passions.
Blackman’s first culinary job in a prep kitchen provided her with a strong foundation, but ended up being short-lived because she quickly outgrew her role. Next, she joined the opening team at Tommy Bahama, which taught her a crucial lesson: proper preparation prevents poor performance.
While she appreciated the structure the job provided, her work/life balance was non-existent. After six months of 12-hour days, five to six days a week, the lifestyle became unsustainable. Her next gig with Union Square Hospitality Group taught her the science of mass production, which served her well when she became a chef at the Delta Sky Club in JFK. However, none of her kitchen jobs were paying the bills, so when she heard of an online platform called Kitchit (now defunct) that connected chefs with diners in their homes, she decided to go for it.
After her first private dinner in the Hamptons, word quickly spread about her fantastic cooking and her career as a private chef took off. Blackman appreciated her newfound ability to cultivate her own menus, connect with diners, and gain recognition for her creations—aspects that were lacking during her tenure working in restaurants. There was no going back from there.
If you’re lucky enough to experience Blackman’s private dining menu, you might start with the fan-favorite spicy tuna tartare topped with lotus chips for crunch. Or, fried liver bites served with toasted baguette and a roasted garlic spread, each bite smooth and warm from the hints of cinnamon and star anise in the sauce. Her famous Hawaiian braised short ribs are also a top contender, cooked low and slow for 12 hours until the meat is falling off the bone. And for dessert, her flourless chocolate cake with peanut butter mousse and caramelized popcorn is always a crowd pleaser.
Perhaps her style was written in the stars when you consider her role models early on. From Julia Child, she learned that it’s ok to break the mold and to not shy away from trying something new. From Emeril LaGasse, she learned that you can have a whole lot of fun in the process. And now that she is emerging as a role model for the next generation of chefs, Blackman hopes to cement a legacy: “I want to inspire others to take the time to learn their craft. It’s all about applying yourself. Once you apply yourself, doors can open.”
You've got to "C" it to believe it. Our ongoing #CulinaryCreativesChat series is a virtual space to empower Black food entrepreneurs through testimonies from thriving industry peers.
