Crystal Wahpepah | |
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![]() Wahpepah in 2022 | |
Born | |
Education | Le Cordon Bleu |
Style | Native American cuisine |
Crystal Wahpepah is an Indigenous American chef. She was the first Indigenous chef on the cooking program Chopped. [1] Wahpepah runs both a catering business and a restaurant, which aim to reclaim Native American cuisine. [2] [3] She received the Indigenous Artist Activist Award. [1] Wahpepah was a James Beard Award finalist in the Emerging Chef category in 2022. [4]
Wahpepah was born and raised in Oakland, California. [1] She is a member of the Kickapoo and Sac and Fox tribes of Oklahoma. [5] As a child, she cooked with her older relatives. [5]
Wahpepah attended the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, where she studied French cooking. [1] Later, she traveled around the United States and learned more about Native farming and cooking. [5] At the time of the opening of her restaurant, Wahpepah's Kitchen, there were no Indigenous food restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. [1]
Crystal Wahpepah | |
---|---|
![]() Wahpepah in 2022 | |
Born | |
Education | Le Cordon Bleu |
Style | Native American cuisine |
Crystal Wahpepah is an Indigenous American chef. She was the first Indigenous chef on the cooking program Chopped. [1] Wahpepah runs both a catering business and a restaurant, which aim to reclaim Native American cuisine. [2] [3] She received the Indigenous Artist Activist Award. [1] Wahpepah was a James Beard Award finalist in the Emerging Chef category in 2022. [4]
Wahpepah was born and raised in Oakland, California. [1] She is a member of the Kickapoo and Sac and Fox tribes of Oklahoma. [5] As a child, she cooked with her older relatives. [5]
Wahpepah attended the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, where she studied French cooking. [1] Later, she traveled around the United States and learned more about Native farming and cooking. [5] At the time of the opening of her restaurant, Wahpepah's Kitchen, there were no Indigenous food restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. [1]