Interviews
The Culinary Career Of Tanya Holland
Jemima Hunter
June 3, 2021
Fifty-five-year-old, Tanya Holland is re-writing modern soul food as she went from professional chef to a restaurant owner in just a couple of years, in addition to spending time as a podcast host and the author of her new book ‘The Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook.’
The Rochester New York raised chef, started cooking in primary school ‘I was often shadowing my parents in the cooking, but I had an easy bake oven in grade school, so I started then for sure.’ Holland found her passion for cooking after her parents started a gourmet cooking and eating club. Six pairs joined to share their foodie experiences from different ethnic origins, introducing the family to everything from Mexican to Dutch cuisine.
Like most young college goers, Holland began her working life in the hospitality industry, waitressing at a restaurant and later became a lab technician at Eastman Kodak Research Labs. After graduating in 1987 from the University of Virginia, having taken Russian Language and Literature, Holland became an Assistant Manager in New York, at Café Rakel and Cornelia Street Café.
Holland proceeded to work as an Assistant Sommelier and a Catering Office Manager, before moving to Burgundy, France, where she attended La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in 1992. While completing her Grand Diploma, Holland had the opportunity to train with Michel Sarran at Le Mas Du Langoustier and Jean-Michel Bouvier in Chambery.
In 2011, Holland began a barbeque restaurant named ‘B-Side BBQ.’ After closing in 2015, there are future plans to re-open as a café and bakery. However, Holland ‘saw a need for a level of service and quality in the soul food genre’, which inspired her to open the Brown Sugar Kitchen in 2008, which provides southern cuisine and robust soul food influenced by California, which has received multiple Michelin Bib Gourmand awards.
‘I’ve dealt with a lot of implicit biases and discrimination that limited my initial opportunities’, exclaimed Holland , however, the accomplished chef was able to bypass the obstacles and succeed greatly in the culinary world. In 2014, Holland released her second cookbook ‘Brown Sugar Kitchen: New Style Down-Home Recipes from Sweet West Oakland’ starring eighty-six hearty recipes, inspired by her restaurant menu. Holland mentioned her most favoured dish on the menu is the ‘Blackened Catfish Po-Boy.’
Also featuring in several cooking shows, including Food Network’s ‘Melting Pot’, HBO’s Max Show ‘Selena + Chef’ and Oprah Winfrey Network, ‘Tanya’s Kitchen Table’, Holland shared her soul-food knowledge. The critically acclaimed executive chef believes in making the hospitality industry an inclusive and equal environment, often leading lectures on the issue.
Just last year, Holland released ‘Tanya’s Table,’ a podcast with special guests, to broaden her culinary streaming, produced by MuddHouse Media. With potential plans to expand her business overseas, Holland hopes to spread her knowledge and love of food ‘I have had some discussions with business-people in parts of Asia.’
When asked what her ultimate goal was Holland exclaimed
‘I want to bring high standards and professionalism training to marginalised hospitality workers so that they can access more opportunities.’
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