A look inside Noir Experience, a new dinner series showcasing the cuisine of the Black diaspora
A new dinner series is giving underrepresented chefs the chance to showcase their culinary talents—and letting Torontonians indulge in the cuisine of the Black diaspora. Noir Experience founders and chefs Adisa Glasgow, Yohannes Asres, Dwight Smith and Anthony Harrison invite racialized chefs to curate multi-course tasting menus, each inspired by a theme and with the proceeds going toward community initiatives.
“Heroes” was the theme for the dinner that took place at the tail end of Black History Month at 3030 in the Junction, with a menu created by Glasgow and Asres along with chefs Al Barq and Jerome Robinson. “The chefs showcased their own personal heroes who have affected the history of their respective industries,” says creative director Tamara Medina. “The idea was to highlight our heroes and what’s driving us forward but also what the future of this industry is.”
To stay true to the theme, Noir Experience welcomed sommelier Beverly Crandon to curate the drink pairings. “We show her the menu, we tell her what the chefs are doing and she just does amazing pairings. People are like, This is perfection—she just knows,” says Medina. “She also makes an effort to highlight bottles from Black-owned wineries, which is very important to us.”
Related: What’s on the menu at Miss Likklemore’s, a fancy new Caribbean kitchen on King West
Ultimately, the goal of the series is to disrupt the collective understanding of what fine dining is and who produces it. “It’s really important to bring our heritage, our seasonings and the flavours that we have from our home countries. One major thing we don’t want to do is take away from our culture,” says Medina. “For instance, some of the dishes are meant to be eaten with your hands. You can have fine dining and you can have Caribbean food without whitewashing it. We’re not taking away from our roots. When you eat roti, you don’t use a knife and a fork.”
Noir Experience also gives chefs control over their own dishes. “In Toronto, there’s not really much room for growth and creativity,” says Asres. “As someone who runs a kitchen, I have no control over facilitating a menu. Noir Experience gave me the chance to create something that was mine and something that was meaningful.”
“For the W” is the theme for tonight’s dinner, which takes place at Project Gigglewater. Four Black women chefs will prepare an eight-course tasting menu, the proceeds of which will be donated to The Shoe Box Project.
Here’s a look at the chefs from the most recent event, their dishes and the inspirations behind them.
Adisa Glasgow
Flame-broiled oysters with boudin sausage
Glasgow’s dish was inspired by his hero, James Baldwin, an African American activist and writer whose literary works explored race, politics, identity and sexuality. “I chose him because of his beautiful way with words. He met the intellectual challenges that faced many African Americans at the time,” says Glasgow. “For me, a true hero is someone who dedicates their lives to a cause, knowing that they’ll never live to see the impact they’ve had. After Baldwin fled to France, he was able to clear his mind and write from the heart.”
Glasgow wanted to honour Baldwin’s French passage by creating a dish rooted in the French-influenced cuisine of New Orleans. The dish was flavoured with Trinidadian green seasoning—a blend of scallions, garlic, ginger, cilantro, parsley, thyme and peppers—to pay tribute to Glasgow’s own heritage.
Al Barq
Chicken musakhan and knafeh
“Yasser Arafat was a controversial figure, but he did more for the people of Palestine than anyone else in trying to attain peace with Israel,” says Barq. Chicken musakhan, Palestine’s national dish, is a meal of roasted chicken that can be served with naan, rice or taboon bread. Knafeh is a pastry made with kataifi dough—shredded phyllo baked until crispy—with a filling of clotted cream, nabulsi and akawi cheeses, topped with toasted, crumbled pistachio and drizzled with attar, a simple syrup made with orange-blossom water.
For Barq, being part of Noir Experience was a way to share the heritage of Palestine through food, but also a way to honour his father. “My late father, Hisham Barq, was a well-known chef in the Middle East. He owned a few different restaurants and was also the personal chef of King Faisal of Iraq and then King Abdullah of Jordan. Growing up, I developed a passion for food and cooking by watching my father.”
Yohannes Asres
Stuffed lamb loin
“The hero I chose was Haile Selassie, the former emperor of Ethiopia,” says Asres. “He was a very prolific idol in a lot of people’s eyes, especially in the time of the Italian revolution—not only for Ethiopians but for Jamaicans as well.” Asres’s dish, titled “The Emperor,” was a stuffed lamb loin served with bebere-spiced injera, shiro acorn squash purée and kale gomen, a leafy green vegetable similar to collard greens.
Jerome Robinson
Chicken and waffles
“Jackie Robinson ended racial segregation in baseball and paved the way for many Black athletes to find their way in sports,” says Robinson. “He was born in Georgia, so I chose a dish inspired by the southern US: chicken and waffles with maple rum gravy.” Preparing the meal was no easy feat—the maple gravy simmered for three hours while the buttermilk chicken was marinated for a full 24. Robinson made the waffle batter from scratch and, on the plate, added two sweet pickles, a dusting of icing sugar and a smattering of thinly sliced scallions.
And here are some more photos from last month’s dinner:
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/noir-experience-new-dinner-series-cuisine-black-diaspora-toronto/&title=A look inside Noir Experience, a new dinner series showcasing the cuisine of the Black diaspora&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC0021-2000x1334.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_603563" align="aligncenter" width="2998"] Left to right: Adisa Glasgow, Jerome Robinson, Al Barq and Yohannes Asres[/caption]
A new dinner series is giving underrepresented chefs the chance to showcase their culinary talents—and letting Torontonians indulge in the cuisine of the Black diaspora. Noir Experience founders and chefs Adisa Glasgow, Yohannes Asres, Dwight Smith and Anthony Harrison invite racialized chefs to curate multi-course tasting menus, each inspired by a theme and with the proceeds going toward community initiatives.
“Heroes” was the theme for the dinner that took place at the tail end of Black History Month at 3030 in the Junction, with a menu created by Glasgow and Asres along with chefs Al Barq and Jerome Robinson. “The chefs showcased their own personal heroes who have affected the history of their respective industries,” says creative director Tamara Medina. “The idea was to highlight our heroes and what's driving us forward but also what the future of this industry is.”
[caption id="attachment_603562" align="aligncenter" width="2998"] The whole team, including sommelier Beverly Crandon (front and centre), events director Sheila Cardenas (to the right of Crandon) and creative director Tamara Medina (behind Cardenas)[/caption]
To stay true to the theme, Noir Experience welcomed sommelier Beverly Crandon to curate the drink pairings. “We show her the menu, we tell her what the chefs are doing and she just does amazing pairings. People are like, This is perfection—she just knows," says Medina. "She also makes an effort to highlight bottles from Black-owned wineries, which is very important to us.”
Related: What's on the menu at Miss Likklemore's, a fancy new Caribbean kitchen on King West
Ultimately, the goal of the series is to disrupt the collective understanding of what fine dining is and who produces it. “It’s really important to bring our heritage, our seasonings and the flavours that we have from our home countries. One major thing we don’t want to do is take away from our culture,” says Medina. “For instance, some of the dishes are meant to be eaten with your hands. You can have fine dining and you can have Caribbean food without whitewashing it. We're not taking away from our roots. When you eat roti, you don't use a knife and a fork.”
Noir Experience also gives chefs control over their own dishes. “In Toronto, there’s not really much room for growth and creativity,” says Asres. “As someone who runs a kitchen, I have no control over facilitating a menu. Noir Experience gave me the chance to create something that was mine and something that was meaningful.”
“For the W” is the theme for tonight’s dinner, which takes place at Project Gigglewater. Four Black women chefs will prepare an eight-course tasting menu, the proceeds of which will be donated to The Shoe Box Project.
Here's a look at the chefs from the most recent event, their dishes and the inspirations behind them.
Adisa Glasgow
Flame-broiled oysters with boudin sausage
Glasgow’s dish was inspired by his hero, James Baldwin, an African American activist and writer whose literary works explored race, politics, identity and sexuality. "I chose him because of his beautiful way with words. He met the intellectual challenges that faced many African Americans at the time," says Glasgow. "For me, a true hero is someone who dedicates their lives to a cause, knowing that they’ll never live to see the impact they’ve had. After Baldwin fled to France, he was able to clear his mind and write from the heart."
Glasgow wanted to honour Baldwin’s French passage by creating a dish rooted in the French-influenced cuisine of New Orleans. The dish was flavoured with Trinidadian green seasoning—a blend of scallions, garlic, ginger, cilantro, parsley, thyme and peppers—to pay tribute to Glasgow’s own heritage.
Al Barq
Chicken musakhan and knafeh
“Yasser Arafat was a controversial figure, but he did more for the people of Palestine than anyone else in trying to attain peace with Israel,” says Barq. Chicken musakhan, Palestine’s national dish, is a meal of roasted chicken that can be served with naan, rice or taboon bread. Knafeh is a pastry made with kataifi dough—shredded phyllo baked until crispy—with a filling of clotted cream, nabulsi and akawi cheeses, topped with toasted, crumbled pistachio and drizzled with attar, a simple syrup made with orange-blossom water.
For Barq, being part of Noir Experience was a way to share the heritage of Palestine through food, but also a way to honour his father. “My late father, Hisham Barq, was a well-known chef in the Middle East. He owned a few different restaurants and was also the personal chef of King Faisal of Iraq and then King Abdullah of Jordan. Growing up, I developed a passion for food and cooking by watching my father.”
Yohannes Asres
Stuffed lamb loin
“The hero I chose was Haile Selassie, the former emperor of Ethiopia,” says Asres. “He was a very prolific idol in a lot of people’s eyes, especially in the time of the Italian revolution—not only for Ethiopians but for Jamaicans as well.” Asres’s dish, titled “The Emperor,” was a stuffed lamb loin served with bebere-spiced injera, shiro acorn squash purée and kale gomen, a leafy green vegetable similar to collard greens.
Jerome Robinson
Chicken and waffles
“Jackie Robinson ended racial segregation in baseball and paved the way for many Black athletes to find their way in sports,” says Robinson. “He was born in Georgia, so I chose a dish inspired by the southern US: chicken and waffles with maple rum gravy.” Preparing the meal was no easy feat—the maple gravy simmered for three hours while the buttermilk chicken was marinated for a full 24. Robinson made the waffle batter from scratch and, on the plate, added two sweet pickles, a dusting of icing sugar and a smattering of thinly sliced scallions.
And here are some more photos from last month's dinner:
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