For more than 20 years, Tanya Holland has been solidifying her reputation as an acclaimed chef and restaurateur, known for her inventive takes on modern soul food and comfort classics.  The author of New Soul Cooking: Updating a Cuisine Rich in Flavor and Tradition, host of the Food Network’s Melting Pot, and making television appearances nationally and in the San Francisco Bay Area, Holland still finds time to run two beloved restaurants in Oakland, California: Brown Sugar Kitchen and B-Side BBQ.  She’s also a dear friend of mine, going back to her early days in New York City.  So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to catch up with her in March at the Palm Desert Food and Wine Festival…

MG: Tanya I have known you for more than half my life and it was a joy reconnecting with you at the Palm Desert Food and Wine Festival! In December you were awarded 2013 best chef in CA?  What does that honor mean to you?

Tanya Holland: This is amazing to me! It’s so surreal. It means so much because I know who preceded me: Alice Waters, Michael Chiarello, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger to name a few. It also reaffirms my decision to move to California, a treasure for foodways in the US. I’ve been well received here so I’m staying!

MG: How would you define your cooking style?

TH: Even though I have formal training, I cook with intuition and simplicity…I draw from my heritage and my experience. I use the highest quality ingredients possible and present them in recognizable form…no molecular gastronomy in my kitchen. My food isn’t trendy, but I use seasonal and sustainable as much as possible.

MG: If you were able to serve a meal to one person dead or alive who would that be?

TH: Wow, I can’t narrow it down to one…I love to feed people more than I love cooking. Even if I just open a box of crackers and put out some cheese… it’s the feeding that I enjoy. As long as the person is gracious and not a picky eater, I’ll serve them.

MG: Who were and are your mentors?

TH: I’ve asked a lot of people for advice over time and I’ve worked for a lot of people and watched many from afar and mostly learned on my own. I wasn’t able to find someone who would mentor me so I’ve made it a point to do the mentoring in my kitchen. I love sharing my knowledge.

MG: What are you go to wines?

TH: I love the wines of southern France…whether it’s a Provencal rosé or a Chateauneuf- du-Pape… anything with grenache, syrah, mouvedre and I’m happy.

MG: What’s your favorite kitchen gadget for the home chef?

TH: The microplane grater is a sure winner.

MG: What’s your favorite ingredient and why?

TH: I love eggs and all their versatility.

MG: Your last meal on earth.  What are you eating?

TH: Spaghetti with sausage in red sauce, lots of fresh grated parmesan cheese and a Brunello.

MG: When you are not cooking, what are your other passions?

TH: I like riding one of my three bicycles and messing around in my flower garden…I don’t do much planting, but I do the maintenance and watch everything grow.

FOR SOME PHOTOS OF TANYA’S AMAZING FOOD, SCROLL DOWN

Cornmeal Waffle with Buttermilk Fried Chicken (Brown Sugar Kitchen)

Dark & Stormy St. Louis Ribs (B-Side BBQ)

MORE ABOUT TANYA AND WHY SHE IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT PERSON IN MY LIFE!

TH: I had finally decided my career path, well maybe not the path, but definitely the industry that I wanted to work in: hospitality. I began in the restaurant business in college; bussing and waiting tables. Now this wasn’t fine dining at all and I was still drinking Bartles & James! Although I considered myself sophisticated because I had discovered Kir Royales my last year in college, It took moving to Manhattan in 1988 and working in restaurants there to take me to the next level. You have to remember, there were no food bloggers, no food trucks… no Food TV!!! So, one was so much more on their own to discover the pleasures of food and wine. I was taking cooking classes on the Upper East Side when I worked at a catering company in the West Village. Talk about opposite ends of the world! One job lead to the next and by 1990 I had discovered this world of wine. It began with a sommelier at a restaurant in Soho… a restaurant once ran by a world famous chef (would you like to know who?) that had to be down scaled after the stock market crash. But the world-class wine list remained. When I left there, I worked for a manager at a small restaurant in Tribeca… as the business goes, things got tight and I was let go and on my way again. It was a cold November and that manager who had mentored me and shared her deep experience and knowledge sent me to Michael Green to work at Acker Merrill and Condit on the Upper West Side. This was the best wine shop in the city and it was known for its auctions and deep vintage offerings. The holiday business was upon them and they needed some extra help. Michael and I hit it off right away! He was a natural teacher and I was eager to learn. Champagne was my first region to master. It’s probably the reason why I enjoy so much today! And I was also grateful to have an audience to bring my cooking school projects to for a taste test! Michael and I discovered that we shared the same alma mater as well, The University of Virginia, and we even shared some friends. That was 23 years ago and now look at us!