In April 2015, Kardea Brown left behind her job in social services for a life cooking in front of the camera. She’d recently impressed Food Network executives after a boyfriend signed her up to audition for a pilot, but the suits wanted her to hone her cooking skills. So the South Carolina native and longtime Atlanta resident returned to the South from New Jersey to begin the New Gullah Supper Club, centering events around the food she grew up eating at her grandmother’s house on Wadmalaw Island. Food Network kept in touch, booking her to spar with chefs on shows such as Beat Bobby Flay and tapping her to host Cupcake Championship. Then, this past summer, Delicious Miss Brown debuted, allowing her to introduce the dishes of her Gullah upbringing to the nation. Ahead of season two, which begins in early 2020, Brown reflects on the leap of faith that led to her own show.
How did the New Gullah Supper Club dining series get started?When I came up with the idea, I was literally broke. I sold everything I had, moved back down South, and had to figure out a way to get my foot in the food industry. On my train ride—because I couldn’t even afford a plane ticket at that point—to Charleston, I was just sitting there talking to God and the universe. I said, “I like to travel. I like to cook. What if I just do some type of traveling dinner party?” But what could set me apart? Well, the food that I cook is different. You can’t find it everywhere unless you come to Charleston to eat it, so why not take Charleston to other places? I said, “I’m going to go on the road, and I’m going to share my culture with people.”
You often bring a Gullah singer or storyteller with you to these events.I’m big on visualization. The idea was to transport people to Charleston, and I wanted them to feel like they were sitting on a porch with someone’s grandmother or listening to a soulful song at a juke joint.
What makes the Sea Islands so special to you?Spending my summers on Wadmalaw Island, where my grandmother is from—I didn’t realize how precious it was until I became an adult. My grandmother grew up in the time when it was actually frowned upon to speak the Gullah dialect, or to talk with the Gullah tongue, because it was not considered proper English. We preserved as much of our culture as possible. The language, the people, the land, the landscape—where else can you find that in America? It’s really near and dear to my heart to be able to film in my hometown and to show the world what I grew up seeing.
When you prepare the food of your region on the show, you seem to beam with pride. Everybody thinks of Southern food, soul food, as heavy staples, but your recipes are light and fresh.A lot of our dishes are big one-pot dishes that can feed a family like my grandmother’s—she grew up with fourteen brothers and sisters. A lot of our foods are based on what is grown on the land and what we caught in the sea. I think the Gullah people laid the foundation for Southern cooking. Before farm-to-table was a fad, it was what Gullah people did, so I wanted to show the world that African American people don’t just fry chicken and eat collard greens swimming in meat. It’s very intentional on my part, to show a different part of the South.
You really cut up when you’re around your family on the show. Were you like that growing up?I am definitely a goofball. The funny thing is in high school, they have senior superlatives, so I was voted “most likely to be heard in the hallway,” and I was voted “class clown.” As a Southern little girl growing up, that was the exact opposite of what my grandmother taught me: A lady should be seen, never heard. [Laughs.] That just went out the window. I’m a big kid. I like to joke around. I think laughter is the cure to every ailment, any disease.
Your grandmother appears on the show. What does she think of your work?My grandmother is a very practical woman. She grew up in the era when you had to make something of yourself through education, so when I told her that I was giving up my career in the social services sector, she said, “You have to be crazy.” Recently, when I got the news that the show had gotten picked up, she said, “I watched you, and how serious you were about your craft.” She said, “I’m really proud of you. I mean, words can’t explain how proud I am of you.”
She also taught you how to cook.I learned the basics of cooking from my grandmother, but my mother was always the entertainer. She loved having her friends over for dinner. She always had big lavish birthday parties where she did all of the cooking, so I think that’s where I got the idea of cooking for entertainment, and cooking for friends and family.
What can we expect in the second season?Season one was the introduction to me and my world. Season two, you get to know my family. I always thought that this would be my personal diary in a sense. I can’t wait for viewers to see my growth, not only as a cook or a chef but as a person, because this really is a journey.
Brown signed an exclusive contract with Food Network in 2021 which included her being the host of The Great Soul Food Cook-Off. Delicious Miss Brown is set at a home on Edisto Island and focuses on “fresh, seasonal, and very seafood heavy” cooking.
You really cut up when you’re around your family on the show. Were you like that growing up?I am definitely a goofball. The funny thing is in high school, they have senior superlatives, so I was voted “most likely to be heard in the hallway,” and I was voted “class clown.” As a Southern little girl growing up, that was the exact opposite of what my grandmother taught me: A lady should be seen, never heard. [Laughs.] That just went out the window. I’m a big kid. I like to joke around. I think laughter is the cure to every ailment, any disease.
What makes the Sea Islands so special to you?Spending my summers on Wadmalaw Island, where my grandmother is from—I didn’t realize how precious it was until I became an adult. My grandmother grew up in the time when it was actually frowned upon to speak the Gullah dialect, or to talk with the Gullah tongue, because it was not considered proper English. We preserved as much of our culture as possible. The language, the people, the land, the landscape—where else can you find that in America? It’s really near and dear to my heart to be able to film in my hometown and to show the world what I grew up seeing.
What can we expect in the second season?Season one was the introduction to me and my world. Season two, you get to know my family. I always thought that this would be my personal diary in a sense. I can’t wait for viewers to see my growth, not only as a cook or a chef but as a person, because this really is a journey.
How did the New Gullah Supper Club dining series get started?When I came up with the idea, I was literally broke. I sold everything I had, moved back down South, and had to figure out a way to get my foot in the food industry. On my train ride—because I couldn’t even afford a plane ticket at that point—to Charleston, I was just sitting there talking to God and the universe. I said, “I like to travel. I like to cook. What if I just do some type of traveling dinner party?” But what could set me apart? Well, the food that I cook is different. You can’t find it everywhere unless you come to Charleston to eat it, so why not take Charleston to other places? I said, “I’m going to go on the road, and I’m going to share my culture with people.”
She also taught you how to cook.I learned the basics of cooking from my grandmother, but my mother was always the entertainer. She loved having her friends over for dinner. She always had big lavish birthday parties where she did all of the cooking, so I think that’s where I got the idea of cooking for entertainment, and cooking for friends and family.
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CM: You’ve worked with an array of celebrity chefs since landing on Food Network. Who were you most excited to meet? KB: I met Martha Stewart on the set of Beat Bobby Flay and was totally starstruck.
CM: What’s the atmosphere on set? KB: The crew is one big, happy family, and we have lots of fun. We love to dance and sing. It helps those 12-hour days go by super fast. I like to record some of our silly antics for behind-the-scenes footage.
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CM: Delicious Miss Brown, which heads into its third season on September 5, is filmed on Edisto Island. What’s your most vivid memory from growing up on the sea islands? KB: Summers spent on Wadmalaw, playing barefoot outside with my cousins, with the warm sand between my toes. And I can’t forget my family’s cookouts and reunions. It’s essential for viewers to see the beauty of this place I call home.
Kardea Brown | The Way Home: A Celebration of Sea Islands Food and Family with over 100 Recipes
FAQ
Where does the Fabulous Miss Brown live?
Where do they film Delicious Miss Brown?
Who is Kardea Brown engaged to?
Does Kardea Brown live in atlanta?
Where is kardea Brown now?
Although she now spends a lot of her time in Atlanta, South Carolina’s Lowcountry still holds a special place in Kardea Brown’s heart. Charleston is the largest city in those parts and has carved out a name for itself as one of the best food cities in the country.
Where did kardea brown grow up?
As reported by Garden & Gun, Kardea Brown grew up in South Carolina, splitting her time between Charleston and her grandmother’s house located on Wadmalaw, one of The Sea Islands. This area of the world was first inhabited by the Cusabo, a group of Indigenous peoples (per Luxury Simplified ).
Does kardea Brown live in Charleston?
The house, located just outside picturesque Charleston, South Carolina, is beautiful. The host, former caterer Kardea Brown, is polished. The dinner parties, featuring Brown’s friends and family, are enviable. But look a little closer. The Charleston that you see on the show isn’t the fancy hotels and seafood towers often spotlighted in magazines.
Why did kardea Brown leave social services?
In April 2015, Kardea Brown left behind her job in social services for a life cooking in front of the camera. She’d recently impressed Food Network executives after a boyfriend signed her up to audition for a pilot, but the suits wanted her to hone her cooking skills.