Marcus Samuelsson Coming to Hammer Museum

Hmm, this could be interesting. Chef Marcus Samuelsson, former champion of Top Chef Masters and owner of New York's Red Rooster, will be hosting a discussion alongside New York-based visual artist Sanford Biggers on July 8 at 3 p.m. at the Hammer Museum in Westwood.

You have to imagine that the elephant dominating the room will be chef Eddie Huang's recent controversial piece in the New York Observer (which was also the subject of a response by our own critic Besha Rodell). In Huang's piece, he criticizes Samuelsson's recent memoir Yes, Chef and the Harlem-based Red Rooster as an “an embarrassing exercise in condescension,” arguing that “”much like the book, [Red Rooster] fails in its goal of paying homage to the neighborhood.”

The Swedish-born Ethiopian chef is no stranger to debates over the authenticity of his “elevated soul food” cuisine. Biggers, who is also an assistant professor at Columbia University and provided much of the artwork lining walls of Red Rooster, will likely discuss Huang's critique of the restaurant as inauthentic to Harlem's African-American community.

The talk will be part of the museum's “Hammer Conversations” which pairs cultural figures from different disciplines to discuss a variety of topics. Past event have paired food critic Jonathan Gold with author Bret Easton Ellis, and Armenian director Atom Egoyan with System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian.

The program is free of charge, reservations are not accepted and RSVPs are not required.