Renowned chef, iconic cookbook author, teacher, and preservationist. Edna Lewis was born and raised in Freetown, a community in Orange County, VA, that had originally been founded by freed slaves–among them, Lewis’s grandfather. She left Virginia as a teenager in 1932, moving first to Washington, DC, and then to New York where she became a seamstress creating dresses for clients including an up-and-coming Marilyn Monroe. But 1948 marked her debut as the chef at Café Nicholson in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where, for the next six years, she served up Southern-inspired dishes and her signature chocolate soufflé. Her homestyle recipes and warm hospitality attracted everyone from Eleanor Roosevelt to Marlon Brando to Tennessee Williams. Surprisingly, Lewis never formally trained as a chef but was self-taught, having grown up cooking in rural Virginia. As she recalled, “As a child in Virginia, I thought all food tasted delicious…It has been my lifelong effort to try and recapture those good flavors of the past.”
Upon leaving the restaurant in New York, Lewis became a pheasant farmer in New Jersey, while also catering and teaching cooking classes. She published The Edna Lewis Cookbook in 1972, but four years later authored her most famous cookbook, The Taste of Country Cooking. Still revered today, the latter work tells the stories of her childhood in Freetown and celebrates the different Southern foods her family would prepare and enjoy as the seasons changed. As the New York Times exclaimed, “it may well be the most entertaining regional cookbook in America.”
At 72, Lewis became the chef at Gage & Tollner, then New York’s longest continuously open restaurant, where she served up Southern goodness for the next four years. Later, she also cooked in towns around the South, including Pittsboro, NC, and Charleston, SC. Lewis moved to Atlanta in 1992, where she taught culinary classes and founded the Society for the Revival and Preservation of Southern Food. She remained passionately dedicated to preserving Southern cuisine until her death in 2006.
Called the “Grande Dame of Southern Cooking,” her honors included: an honorary PhD in Culinary Arts from Johnson & Wales University; the James Beard Living Legend Award; and today her portrait is featured on a U.S. Postal Service stamp. Known for her culinary sophistication, Lewis is credited with helping to refine America’s appreciation for Southern cooking using fresh, in-season ingredients. As she declared to the Washington Post in 1990, “It’s not all fried chicken and greasy greens.” But nor was her cuisine what one would call fancy: “My aim is for uncomplicated cooking with good taste.”
“As a child in Virginia, I thought all food tasted delicious…It has been my lifelong effort to try and recapture those good flavors of the past.”
-Edna Lewis-
Biscuitville Director of Internal Communications, proud mom of four, people-person extraordinaire. Alon first joined the Biscuitville family in 2018, serving as Marketing Manager. A few years later, she was promoted to Director of Internal Communications, the position she still holds today. Two years ago, Alon began asking Biscuitville employees at all levels what was important to them in order to feel fully engaged in the company. She soon learned that Biscuitville needed a way to communicate directly with all our employees, especially the frontline team members in our restaurants. So Alon began diligently pushing forward the need for better one-on-one communication, providing all team members with access to important information. Her efforts culminated in the creation of The Buzzing Biscuit, a texting platform launched in October 2024 giving Biscuitville the ability to engage with every employee in just seconds. Not surprisingly, Alon recently received Biscuitville’s Award of Excellence for her passion and hard work.
Born in the Bronx, NY, and raised in Norwalk, CT, Alon earned a B.S. in Marketing and Sales at Boston University. Over the next several years, she worked for a number of different advertising agencies, both in New York City and Connecticut–as well as in marketing communications on the client side, for companies like American Express and Merz Pharma. In 2007, Alon moved to Whitsett, North Carolina, where she and her husband Ira live today with their four children– including triplets!
Asked what she likes best about working at Biscuitville, Alon enthusiastically responds, “I’m a people person. I love the variety of people and personalities I get to work with every day!” She adds that she’s made some great friendships at Biscuitville and is proud to work for a company that embraces IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility). In fact, for two years now, she’s been Chairperson of the company’s IDEA committee, whose sole purpose is to provide equal access for all 2,000 Biscuitville employees. Lately, she’s especially proud of her new baby, The Buzzing Biscuit, which “allows us to be equitable and inclusionary with everyone in the Biscuitville family, reaching them wherever they are.”
It’s our honor to recognize Alon during Black History Month this year. She exhibits our company values both at work and within her everyday life. The way she sees it, “As a Black woman, it’s my job to make sure that I’m speaking up for the underrepresented, giving voice and value to those who can’t speak up for themselves–it’s about representation.”
mom of four, people-person extraordinaire. Alon first joined the Biscuitville family in 2018, serving as Marketing Manager. A few years later, she was promoted to Director of Internal Communications, the position she still holds today. Two years ago, Alon began asking Biscuitville employees at all levels what was important to them in order to feel fully engaged in the company. She soon learned that Biscuitville needed a way to communicate directly with all our employees, especially the frontline team members in our restaurants. So Alon began diligently pushing forward the need for better one-on-one communication, providing all team members with access to important information. Her efforts culminated in the creation of The Buzzing Biscuit, a texting platform launched in October 2024 giving Biscuitville the ability to engage with every employee in just seconds. Not surprisingly, Alon recently received Biscuitville’s Award of Excellence for her passion and hard work. “As a Black woman, it’s my job to make sure that I’m speaking up for the underrepresented, giving voice and value to those who can’t speak up for themselves–it’s about representation.”
-Alon Vanterpool-
African American cuisine is richly varied, reflecting influences from cultures around the world. Cooking techniques and ingredients from Africa, Western Europe, and indigenous American cuisines show up in recipes by Black chefs, who each add their own twist. The books below are a great start to learning more about the history and future of Black cuisine.
THE TASTE OF COUNTRY COOKING
by Edna Lewis
This classic is now issued in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Author Edna Lewis has been called “the first lady of Southern cooking” (NPR). Her book shares seasonal recipes she learned growing up in a small farming community settled by freed slaves.
SALTBOX SEAFOOD JOINT COOKBOOK
by Ricky Moore, K.C. Hysmith
Ricky Moore shares 60 recipes that reflect his upbringing in coastal North Carolina. The widely admired chef tells the story of how he started the wildly popular Saltbox Seafood Joint® restaurants and food truck in Durham, NC.
FIX ME A PLATE
by Scotty Scott
Take a deep dive into the world of soul food, with the hilarious Scotty Scott as your guide. He tells the stories behind iconic dishes of Black cuisine, while weaving in side-splitting tales from his family history. He’ll teach you how to cook up soul-satisfying meals guaranteed to please a crowd.
