A Seat at the Table: Chef Crystal Wahpepah on Indigenous Foodways

Indigenous food has always been at the table even when it wasn’t recognized as such. Join us at Coastal Table and Tales for an evening with Chef Crystal Wahpepah, founder of Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland, the first Indigenous woman to own a restaurant in Northern California, a James Beard Award finalist, and the first Indigenous chef to appear on Food Network’s Chopped.

Chef Wahpepah will prepare two dishes rooted in generations of Kickapoo foodways: Kickapoo Chili and Sweetblue Cornbread. Dishes that carry her heritage forward, on their own terms.

During the demonstration, Chef Wahpepah,will be in conversation with her co-author, Amy Paige Condon, about her cookbook, her heritage food, and what it means to reclaim recognition at the table. The evening will also open up discussion on:

The long, often unrecognized presence of Indigenous cuisine in American food culture
The role of land acknowledgment in modern cooking
How Native ingredients are finding their way back into everyday kitchens
Chef Wahpepah’s path from home cook to James Beard finalist and culinary ambassador
Come hungry, come curious, and leave with a signed copy of the book and a deeper appreciation for the food heritage that’s always belonged at the table.