Mashama Bailey

The Grey, Savannah

An influential bastion of Southern food culture

Mashama Bailey is one of North America's most important chefs, redefining and preserving Southern and Black American cuisine for future generations.

Born in the Bronx, she moved to Georgia at the age of two, eventually settling in the port city of Savannah. She learned to cook at home thanks to her mother and grandmother, eventually attending culinary school in New York after being let go from her job at a homeless shelter in Brooklyn.

After a stint at now-shuttered seafood restaurant Aquagrill in SoHo and a period as a private chef on the Upper East Side, Bailey embarked upon a work-study programme in Burgundy. Here, mentor Anne Willan (founder of École de Cuisine La Varenne) encouraged Bailey to abandon her food writing studies and continue her path as a chef.

Back in New York, Bailey took on a sous chef role at Prune, where after four years she was introduced to entrepreneur John O Morisano. Together, Morisano and Bailey opened what would become The Grey, her debut restaurant housed in a long-abandoned Jim Crow-era segregated Greyhound bus station.

The Grey quickly became one of the US' most celebrated restaurants for Bailey's personal take on Port City Southern food. Deeply layered dishes that both showcase traditional techniques and flavours while reimagining them for modern diners became her signature.

Combined with old-world hospitality and an almost academic approach to cultural preservation, Bailey developed into a leading voice on Black American cuisine. The Grey was subsequently named 2017 Restaurant of the Year by Eater and was chosen as one of the 100 best places in the world by Time in 2018. In 2025, Bailey and Morisano opened L'Arrêt by The Grey in Paris in, honouring histories of Black diaspora in the city.

Outside of the kitchen, Bailey has been chairwoman of the Edna Lewis Foundation since 2017, working to celebrate the African American culinary community and culture, while providing training and opportunities for people in the fields of cooking, agriculture, food studies and storytelling.

During the course of her career, Bailey has broken significant new ground. In 2019, she was the first Black chef to be featured on Netflix's Chef's Table series, and in 2022 she was the first Black female chef to be named winner of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef. Now, she has been recognised with the North America's Best Female Chef Award, as part of North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026.

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