Tanya Holland Biography

Tanya Holland is the Executive Chef/Owner of the globally acclaimed and adored Brown Sugar Kitchen restaurant in Oakland, California, and is known for her innovative take on modern soul food as well as comfort classics. Holland participated on Bravo's 15th season of Top Chef, was the host and soul food expert on Food Network's Melting Pot, initially appeared on the new HBO Max show Selena + Chef with Selena Gomez, and is the host of "Tanya's Kitchen Table" on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network (airs November 14 – December 26, 2020). She is also the author of The Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook and New Soul Cooking. Brown Sugar Kitchen (Oakland, CA) has earned several Michelin Bib Gourmand honors, and she is a frequent contributor to writer and chef to the James Beard Foundation. She is a sought-after public speaker and educator who regularly leads the debate on hospitality sector inclusion and equity. Holland hosts MuddHouse Media's critically acclaimed podcast "Tanya's Table," and has interviewed celebrities such as Questlove, Samin Nosrat, Alice Waters, Danny Meyer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Bassem Youssef, and Carla Hall in Season One. Ayesha Curry, Danny Glover, Bonnie Raitt, Phil Rosenthal, Lars Ulrich, Lizz Wright, Ericka Huggins, Jonny Moseley, and others will appear in Season Two of "Tanya's Table," which will air from December 2020 to March 2021. Holland has made guest appearances on The Today Show, The Talk, CBS This Morning, Hallmark Channel's Home & Family, VH1's Soul Cities, Sara Moulton's Cooking Live, Ready, Set, Cook!, and The Wayne Brady Show, among others. She's featured on shows including Check, Please! Bay Area, View from the Bay, and Eye on the Bay in the Bay Area. Holland appeared on Food Network's Iron Chef, PBS' The Great American Chef's Tour, and TV One's My Momma Throws Down as a judge. Holland has been spotlighted in The New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, Los Angeles Times, Cherry Bombe, Stanford Review, Huffington Post, and many other publications, and has contributed articles to national magazines such as Sunset, Food & Wine, Signature Bride, and Wine Enthusiast. Holland was the head of the San Francisco branch of the renowned Les Dames d'Escoffier. Tanya Holland Day was established by the city of Oakland on June 5, 2012, and in 2013, former Mayor Jean Quan presented her with a Key to the City, and the California Tourism Board named her "California Chef and Restaurateur of the Year." Holland has also given seminars in France for gourmet tourists after being selected as a Culinary Diplomat by the US Foreign Service Department for tours in Kazakhstan and Mexico. Holland graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in Russian Language and Literature and a Grande Diplôme from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine (Burgundy, France). She started her career in the restaurant industry as an assistant manager at Cornelia Street Café, Café Rakel, and Nosmo King (New York City). She worked at Mesa Grill for two years under famous chef Bobby Flay and also cooked at Martha's Vineyard's The Oyster Bar, L'Etoile, and Hamersley's Bistro (Boston, MA). As Executive Chef of The Delux Café (Boston, CA) and The Victory Kitchen (Brooklyn, NY), as well as in her leading position as Creative Director at Le Théâtre, she earned wonderful reviews (Berkeley, CA). Holland's experience as a Catering Office Manager, a wine importer's Tasting Assistant, a Server at Mesa Grill, and a Food Styling Assistant to Roscoe Betsill of Metropolitan Home, Vegetarian Times, and Food & Wine magazines has given her a broad understanding of the restaurant industry.

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