Ashleigh Shanti facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ashleigh Shanti
Born	c. 1991 North Carolina, U.S.
Alma mater	Hampton University
Occupation	Chef, sommelier
Employer	Benne on Eagle
Known for	Black Appalachian cuisine, soul food, Southern food
Notes

Ashleigh Shanti, born around 1991, is an American chef and a sommelier (a wine expert). She works as a freelance chef, meaning she works for herself. Ashleigh is known for her special cooking style, which focuses on African American food traditions, especially Black Appalachian cuisine. From 2018 to 2020, she was the head chef at a restaurant called Benne on Eagle in Asheville, North Carolina.

Early Life and Education

Ashleigh Shanti grew up in North Carolina. Before going to college, she took a year off, called a "gap year." During this time, she lived in Nairobi, Kenya. When she came back, she went to Hampton University. After college, she moved to Baltimore, Maryland to study cooking at a special school. Later, she also became a certified sommelier, which means she's an expert in wine.

Ashleigh Shanti's Culinary Journey

Early Cooking Experiences

Early in her career, Ashleigh worked as a cook in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She also helped plan food events there. After culinary school, she worked for chef Cindy Wolf at restaurants in Baltimore, Maryland. She also worked as a bartender and helped with catering in El Paso, Texas.

Working with Vivian Howard

For more than two years, Ashleigh was the cooking assistant for chef Vivian Howard. She helped Vivian with her TV show, A Chef's Life. Ashleigh even appeared with Vivian in an episode called "Dumpling Dilemma" on Vivian's other show, Somewhere South.

Discovering Black Appalachian Cuisine

After working with Vivian Howard, Ashleigh traveled around the United States. She was trying to decide where she wanted to live and what kind of cooking she wanted to focus on. During her travels, she visited The Grey restaurant. She also went to a conference in Denmark where she heard Jeannette Ehlers speak about bringing back African history. Ashleigh also worked at minibar, a restaurant by famous chef José Andrés in Washington, D.C.

During a camping trip to Shenandoah National Park, Ashleigh saw a display about African Americans in Appalachia. Her grandmother and great-grandmother had lived in the Appalachian Mountains. This display, combined with her family history, inspired Ashleigh. She decided to start exploring and cooking Black Appalachian food.

Benne on Eagle Restaurant

In October 2018, Ashleigh met John Fleer, a chef who owned a restaurant called Rhubarb. Fleer and Shanti both loved celebrating African and African American food traditions. Fleer hired Ashleigh to be the head chef at Benne on Eagle. This restaurant was inside The Foundry Hotel in Asheville. Ashleigh helped create the menu, and the restaurant opened in December 2018.

Awards and Recognition

In 2019, The New York Times newspaper named Ashleigh one of "16 Black Chefs Changing Food in America." That same year, Eater website named her one of their "Young Guns" of the year. Also, Bon Appetit magazine named Benne on Eagle one of its Best New Restaurants. In 2020, Ashleigh was a semi-finalist for the James Beard Award for "Rising Star Chef of the Year." This award is like the "Oscars" for chefs.

Television Appearances and New Projects

Ashleigh competed on Top Chef: Houston in 2022. This was the nineteenth season of the popular TV show Top Chef. In early 2023, her own restaurant, Good Hot Fish, opened in South Asheville, North Carolina. It's a modern take on a "fish camp." In 2023, Ashleigh was also a judge for the National Gingerbread House Competition.

Ashleigh Shanti's Unique Cuisine

Ashleigh Shanti's cooking often explores Black Appalachian food, Southern food, and soul food. She gives modern twists to early Black American dishes. Her cooking also includes flavors from West Africa, Japan, Europe, and other parts of America.

For example, Ashleigh has created hummus made with black-eyed peas and sesame. She also made a dish called okonomiyaki inspired by her mother's salmon and cabbage fritters. Other dishes include buttermilk cornbread soup, based on her grandmother's recipe. She also makes collard greens salad with fried plantain and sumac. Her menu has featured farro-vegetable hash with chermoula, and cornmeal pancakes with strawberry compote. She also makes benne-seed biscuits with local country ham and hollandaise sauce.

Personal Life

Ashleigh Shanti enjoys rap music. In her free time, she likes to write rap songs.