In 2021, Shenarri Freeman burst onto the New York City restaurant scene like a fireworks display. Cadence, her plant-based soul food restaurant in the city’s East Village, won rapid acclaim from publications such as The New York Times and New York magazine, and Esquire selected her as the country’s Rising Star Chef of the Year. In 2023, Shenarri made it to the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 Food & Drink List. Freeman’s potato salad, smoked grits, cornbread, and Southern fried lasagna became, nearly overnight, some of the most buzzed-about dishes in America, and Freeman was celebrated as a new voice in the long and inspiring history of Afro-Vegan cuisine. She had just graduated from culinary school the same year.
Her story is rooted in personal transformation: a shift to plant-based eating in 2017 changed her life. She believes that food has the power to heal us. “Food has been therapeutic for me and I want to share this gift with the world, starting with my community,” she has said.
Like the influential and trailblazing chef Edna Lewis, Freeman grew up in Virginia, although her cooking evolves as she travels and experiences flavor everywhere she goes. “The grits are my grandma’s staple, the palm cakes are similar to the salmon cakes my mom used to make,” she told Vogue in 2022. “I’m just putting my own vegan and culinary twists on them.”
