Kwame Onwuachi is a James Beard Award-winning chef, author of the critically acclaimed memoir Notes from a Young Black Chef, and Executive Producer for Food & Wine. Onwuachi has been named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs, Esquire Magazine’s 2019 Chef of the Year, and a 30 Under 30 honoree by both Zagat and Forbes. He’s also been featured on Time’s 100 Next List and has been named the most important Chef in America by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Onwuachi was born on Long Island and raised in New York City, Nigeria, and Louisiana. He trained at the Culinary Institute of America in New York City and has opened five restaurants, including the groundbreaking Afro-Caribbean restaurant Kith/Kin in Washington, D.C.

Currently, Onwuachi appears as a judge on Season 18 of TOP CHEF. He first appeared as a contestant on the show in Season 13.