Serving: TBD
Award-winning chef, cultural storyteller, filmmaker, and founder, Adé Carrena is redefining what it means to tell a story through food.
Based in North Carolina, Adé is the founder of iLéWA Foods, a purpose-driven spice company supporting women farmers and producers in Benin and Ghana while championing more equitable global food systems. A champion on Food Network’s Chopped and the 2023 North Carolina Chef of the Year, she brings West African foodways and the traditions of the American South together through her immersive Dounou supper club.
Her creative work extends far beyond the plate. Adé co-directed the award-winning documentary Bite of Benin and created What the Tongue Remembers, a groundbreaking residency that brought the first African woman Michelin-starred chef to the Triangle.
For Adé, food is more than nourishment; it is a living archive. Through every dish, story, and experience, she uses food as a powerful tool for connection, healing, cultural preservation, and change.