LaChelle Cunningham: Improvising on Black American roots in the kitchen

By Angela Davis and Maja Beckstrom, MPR News

Early fall is one of the best times to be a cook. The farmers markets are still full of summer crops like tomatoes, green beans, cucumber and sweet corn — and fall favorites like apples, sweet potatoes and squash are just arriving.  

For chef LaChelle Cunningham, the harvest sparks her imagination. It’s where healthy and flavorful meals start.  

Cunningham has been sharing her culinary creativity with the Twin Cities for more than twenty years, ever since friends and family started raving about the dishes she brought to potlucks inspired by the culinary traditions of Black Americans.  

In 2012, she started her catering business, Chelles’ Kitchen. A few years later, she became founding executive chef at Breaking Bread Cafe in North Minneapolis, where she developed many of their signature dishes, including a version of her uncle’s sweet potato pie.   

Now Cunningham is expanding her mission to teach and support other food entrepreneurs through her latest venture, Healthy Roots Institute. 

Listen to an interview with Cunningham.

Learn how other Black chefs are changing America.

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