To ring in the holidays, the chef and Yardy founder DeVonnFrancis cooks up a festive Caribbean dinner—with some help from his mom.
’s exposure to food culture came primarily from his parents—he cut his teeth in his mother’s kitchen and father’s jerk chicken restaurant—preparing intimate meals that invoke Caribbean culture is more than a family tradition, it’s a way of creating new forms of togetherness. “Entertaining is an underutilized gift,” he muses, “There’s something about bringing music and dance and conversation into a room that’s really important these days.
JENNIFER FRANCIS: [Laughs] That’s for sure. That’s for sure. What do you think makes a true entertainer? DEVONN FRANCIS: It happened in multiple waves. The first time I ever had a dinner party, it was in my cramped, dingy apartment in Bushwick. I invited people over just because I was starting college and living alone in New York away from my family for the first time. Cooking was something that I had always done with my family, and I wanted to share. My guests were so encouraging, they told me I should be charging money.
DEVONN FRANCIS: I feel so many different ways about it. I think that a lot of this industry is about keeping up, and when you’re asked to meet demand, the challenge is to make sure you’re still finding value in what you’re doing. The whole reason I started Yardy Worldwide was to build equity and resources to share with my Black, brown, Caribbean and queer communities.
DEVONN FRANCIS: Our next project is the cookbook that we’re working on. There aren’t a ton of resources that encapsulate the history of Black and Caribbean food while also celebrating the culture from a contemporary perspective. Well, none that resonate with how I perceive it, at least.
JENNIFER FRANCIS: We add our own twists. Like the goat that you made for thanksgiving—I was blown away by it! I showed you how to make it at first, but I’ve never had it like that before. Now, I want to make it your way.
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