"Every opportunity should be spent cooking without boundaries or barriers."
ABOUT CHEF ANDREW BLACK Chef Andrew Black–a 2023 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef Southwest, and a 2022 James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Chef–is a chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur in Oklahoma City. Born in Jamaica to an Indo-Jamaican family, where roki was cooked on a handmade clay oven over an open fire; Chef Black was often tasked with building outdoor clay ovens for his grandmother as a child. From working his way through the island’s resort kitchens, to staging his way through fine dining restaurants in Europe as a young adult with the support of the Jamaican government, to finally finding himself as a business leader and tastemaker in Oklahoma City with the inimitable fine dining venture Grey Sweater, trend-setting Black Walnut, and chic patisserie Gilded Acorn. He is author of the cookbook Foraging in Oklahoma: Tales and Recipes from the Open Road, as told to The Oklahoman’s Steve Lackmeyer. Chef Black is a winner of the 2023 James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest, and was named semifinalist for the 2022 JBA for Outstanding Chef. He was also named Best Chef in OKC in 2022 and 2023. His work has been featured by The Wall Street Journal, Wine Enthusiast magazine (50 Best Restaurants 2022), Zagat Stories, and Thrillist. Chef Black is executive chef/owner of Grey Sweater and Black Walnut, and co-founder of restaurant group Culinary Edge Concepts. Chef Black is proud to return to The Skirvin Hotel to open his new restaurant Perle Mesta in spring of 2024. Chef Black has proudly partnered with Dorasti Premium Caviar to present his brand Grey Sweater Caviar, as featured in The Wall Street Journal. He adopted Oklahoma City fifteen years ago as his permanent home and he lives there today.
