In a culinary ecosystem often dictated by tradition and uniformity, Chef Abdullahi has firmly established herself as a beacon of innovation and inclusivity in all realms of her work. With a remarkable culinary path, she is currently the Executive chef at Hav & Mar in New York City and was a finalist for the 2024 James Beard Awards in the category of Emerging Chef. She is a critically acclaimed executive chef, food network judge, philanthropist, and judge at the Celebrity Family Food Battle on Ruku. Abdullahi’s story is as compelling, diverse, and vibrant as her culinary creations. Fariyal stands out as a genuine trailblazer in a culture craving creativity and individuality, breaking boundaries and redefining the narrative of representation in the kitchen.
In 2021, Marcus Samuelsson and Anna Wintour invited Fariyal to the Met Gala, as Vogue wanted ten top chefs in their fields to curate the menu for the night, attend as guests, and walk down the prestigious red carpet. Before her career in the culinary space, she was a child psychologist before answering an internal calling to switch career paths. So, instead of getting a graduate degree as she intended, she bet on a dream and applied to the Culinary Institute of America. We spoke to Abdullahi about her colorful career, pivots, and what keeps her inspired.
ESSENCE: Please share your career journey. What inspired you to pivot from clinical child psychology to the culinary arts?
Chef Abdullahi: I was born and raised in Ethiopia as the youngest of 6 siblings. My mother had a vision for all of us to be physicians, and my older siblings set out to make her proud. While they turned into internists, immuno-oncologists, and neurosurgeons, I deeply wanted to have a career in food. Ironically, my love for food was passed down from my mother, who told me that cooking was a hobby, not a job. So, I followed in my sibling’s footsteps on our journey to make our mother proud, and I became a Clinical Psychologist. After I obtained my Bachelor’s degree, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that my purpose in this life was to be in food. So, instead of applying to grad school, I secretly applied to the CIA (the “Harvard of culinary schools”) and thought that if I got accepted, it would be a sign that I was meant to be a chef. I got accepted, broke the news to my family, and moved to St.Helena to begin my career in the culinary arts.
How has your cultural background influenced your culinary expertise?
While I went to culinary school to learn classical French cuisine and immediately after moving to Copenhagen, where I learned to cook Scandinavian food, my palate was at home with Ethiopian flavors. So, the food I cook now isn’t traditional Ethiopian food but is heavily influenced by Ethiopian spices and flavors.
What excites you the most about food and the culinary arts?
Much like art, the process of creating excites me the most. It is fascinating to take a thought in your head, thoughtfully combine some ingredients, and make a tangible, edible outcome. I have also been intrigued by the science of cooking since I was younger. I’ll never forget the day I learned about the chemical reaction that’s responsible for a Maillard reaction and wanted to know every single chemistry behind flavors.
Can you speak about your work as the Executive Chef at Hav & Mar in NYC?
In 2020, after 8 years of working in and leading professional kitchens, I burned out quickly because I wasn’t making any of the changes I wanted to see in the industry. I wanted to see more women and people of color in fine dining spaces, work with minority vendors, and create menus that addressed sustainability and our planet’s ailments.
However, my former employers didn’t allow me to exercise any of this, and I decided to leave the industry and move back to Ethiopia. I didn’t have any formal plans or how long I would stay. I desperately needed to leave the space that made me feel so unwelcome. But then, 6 months into my time back in my home country, I got a call from Marcus Samuelsson, he told me he was opening a restaurant in Chelsea that he wanted to be sustainable and led by a woman of color, and he told me he wanted me to lead it. I moved back and have since created the environment I craved when I was in the industry. My kitchen has more diversity, and 100% of our food waste is donated to different third parties that use it to do great things for the planet and, therefore, avoid ending up in landfills.
How does it feel to be a 2024 JAMES BEARD AWARD nominee in the category of Emerging Chef?
It felt surreal but also like it had been a long time coming. It’s a massive honor, and I was super happy to be representing so many different minority groups as someone who has four of the most underrepresented voices in America (black, Muslim, woman, fist generation immigrant)
How did you approach curating the menu for the 2021 Met Gala?
Anna Wintour wanted a full vegan menu, and there were 10 chefs involved. We paired up and curated one course each. Marcus and I did the starter, and since it was September, we looked at what ingredients were in season. I was most excited about Kabocha squash, so we created a salad around it.
You’re also a philanthropist and a co-founder of the non-profit organization Take Care of Home. Why did you create this initiative and speak about its impact?
I had carried the guilt of the “Brain Drain” ever since I left Ethiopia, and my way of giving back for a long time was to send money back home, and I was supporting 12 families at one point. But one day, it dawned on me that this type of aid was finite. Around the same time, my friend had just returned from a trip to their hometown and was telling me how sad he was to see the state his old elementary school was in. We talked about helping them remodel it, and that also made me realize that education was a never-ending way of supporting a country and its economy. So we founded Take Care of Home to build schools in rural parts of Ethiopia where very few kids had access to education. In the 7 years we’ve been running, we have built 9 schools and continue to do so. We also realized early on that most of the students attending the school were boys. When we inquired where the little girls were, we learned that because many households didn’t have access to water, the girls were tasked to gather water each day from rivers nearby and far. As a result, we started a second initiative, building water lines into these homes, which freed up the girls to go to school. Needless to say, the better the sanitation, the healthier these villages will be.
Speak to us about your participation as a series judge on the ROKU series Celebrity Family Food Battle. What can we expect?
The show was the most fun I’ve had on any set. While I’ve judged many food competition shows on FoodNetwork, this one vastly differed because the contestants were celebrities and not professional cooks. The food faux pas, like Howie Mendel dropping an entire bag of corn starch into a pastry cream, was wildly entertaining.