Chef Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia. He and his sister and mother had TB…his mom walked with the two small children to the hospital in Addis Ababa in hopes of getting a cure…she died but the two children were saved.
A nurse at the hospital decided to help Marcus and his sister get adopted…they started a new life in Sweden where Marcus got his first experience cooking alongside his new Swedish grandmother.
When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to be a professional soccer player, Marcus decided he would be a professional chef when he grew up. He studied in cooking school and worked in four star restaurants all over Europe. His goal was to one day have his own restaurant in New York.
Marcus opened Red Rooster Harlem in 2010 and then opened Ginny’s Supper Club and American Table Cafe and Bar in 2012.
Marcus is a sharp dresser and he was prepared to wear a super-cool outfit to the recent wedding of a Swedish princess…but then was told it was “white tie.” And after being told that “white tie” is a dress code, not the color of the tie you wear, he went to the rental store in Stockholm and got the appropriate suit…he says he was the only one at the wedding in a rental…but he looked fab anyway!
