Former Kith and Kin chef Kwame Onwuachi is coming to a TV near you. The James Beard Award winner announced Monday that he is joining Bravo’s Top Chef as a judge.
“It’s a beautiful thing when life comes full circle,” he wrote in an Instagram post announcing his new role. “It’s been a surreal experience and I am beholden to all of you for supporting me throughout the years. Make sure to appreciate the present, I try to remind myself that I am always living out a dream that my past self once had. Can’t wait for you all to see what’s in store!!!”
Onwuachi was previously a contestant on the cooking competition series before opening his first restaurant, Shaw Bijou, in D.C. The show’s upcoming 18th season will be set in Portland, Oregon, and feature a rotating panel of alums. Production is currently underway with a COVID-19 health and safety plan in place, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The new season will premiere in 2021.
Onwuachi announced his departure from Kith and Kin, the celebrated Afro-Caribbean restaurant where he served as executive chef, in July. “This place was for dreamers, least notably me, but dreamers who maintained faith that one day their culture would be accepted as equal and significant,” he said in an Instagram post at the time.
He thanked his team and the city, writing, “Whatever my next venture is I will continue the dream and open something of my own where we can all stand taller together. Thank you for everything.”
His departure came just days after the Wharf eatery’s pastry chef Paola Velez announced she, too, would be leaving and joining the teams at Rose Previte’s Maydan and Compass Rose as their executive pastry chef.
Shaw Bijou, Onwuachi’s first foray into the D.C. dining scene, was much-criticized, and eventually closed just two months after opening in 2017. Onwuachi opened Kith and Kin in 2017 to widespread praise, earning him national stardom and a 2019 James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef. His memoir, Notes From a Young Black Chef, is also being turned into a movie.
Since leaving, Onwuachi has stayed busy, recently teaming up with Ben’s Chili Bowl for the its first-ever pop-up.
