New Docuseries Celebrates Edna Lewis, the Trailblazing Southern Chef

A new docuseries aims to celebrate the life and legacy of chef, cookbook author, and Virginia native, Edna Lewis. Hosted by Deb Freeman, writer and podcast host of Setting the Table, and produced by Field Studio, the series visits guests around the country over eight episodes to explore the impact of this trailblazing chef. In the food world, Lewis is revered as a champion of seasonal cooking and culinary storytelling, but, compared to other industry figures, she isn’t exactly a household name. Freeman hopes this docuseries will change that.

Freeman first came to appreciate Lewis when she sat down with a copy of The Edna Lewis Cookbook. Instantly, she says, she felt a sense of familiarity. “It reminded me of my grandmother,” says Freeman. “It felt like home to me.” 

Born in Freetown, a community in Albemarle County of emancipated, former slaves founded by her grandfather, Lewis is often hailed as the “Grande Dame of Southern Cooking,” a title derived from her recognition as a Grande Dame by Les Dames d’Escoffier International in 1999. But before she was lauded with awards, Lewis was the executive chef of Gage and Tollner in Brooklyn, New York, at a time when it was rare to see a Black woman in a position of power in professional kitchens. She’s also the author of four celebrated cookbooks, including the seminal The Taste of Country Cooking, a collection of recipes and memories published in 1976.  

By John Hill

Though much has been written about Lewis, including Sara Franklin’s Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original, a collection of essays about Lewis’ impact, Freeman says Lewis is still something of an enigma. “I feel like I had an outline of Ms. Lewis before, and now it’s starting to fill in as I talk to different people, including chefs who didn’t know her, but could speak to her legacy and what she meant to them,” says Freeman. “She kind of becomes this North Star for people to look to for their own food.”

Freeman says creating a portrait of Lewis, nearly 20 years after her passing, has its challenges. For source material, she combed through cookbooks and interviews, but Freeman says she’s more interested in letting the guests of the docuseries tell the story of what Lewis means to them. To bring Lewis to life, Freeman filmed episodes with chefs and cookbook authors Adrienne Cheetham and Nicole Taylor, as well as Lewis’ niece, Nina Williams Mbengue. 

In the first episode of the series, Freeman visits Richmond’s Leah Branch, chef at The Roosevelt, as she and her team prepare to co-host a dinner celebrating Lewis’ legacy. In the interview, Branch shares one of the lessons she’s taken from Lewis: “I want guests to feel that if they use beautiful food and treat it well, that’s fine dining.” Branch gets the message across through dishes like quail with country ham and grape juice, a deceptively simple dish that far surpasses the sum of its parts. 


This article originally appeared in the February 2025 issue.

Stephanie Ganz
Stephanie Ganz has cooked professionally and she’s always been obsessed with food. Based in Richmond, her work has appeared in The Local Palate, Eater, and Bon Appetit.
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