He's a celebrity chef now for sure, winner of James Beard awards, appearing on television, serving as visiting chef for a state dinner at the White House, running restaurants in New York City, writing cookbooks, profiled in Vogue... But you might think fondly of Marcus Samuelsson as a former Minneapolitan.
He was chef and owner at Aquavit in Minneapolis (as well as in New York) until the restaurant closed in 2003. He's been back here several times since then, and he's coming back again this month for three events promoting his new book--not a cookbook, but a memoir, "Yes, Chef," gracefully written and just out from Random House.
July 24 will be a busy day for the Ethiopian-born Swedish-reared chef.
He will be at Macy's in downtown Minneapolis (700 Nicollet Mall) doing at cooking demonstration at noon; at the Swedish Institute (2600 Park Av., Mpls) at 2 p.m. for a talk and book-signing; and at Cooks of Crocus Hill (877 Grand Av., St. Paul) at 5:30 p.m. for another cooking demo and book signing.
Go early. Jostle for position. Try to get some food.
