From The Ground Up

Ray Anthony Barrett has spent most of his career as a visual artist and his work is based on language - how it orients us, how meaning is constructed and how it shifts depending on your perspective. His background in art and his art education gave him the foundation to make the transition to food four years ago. Ray worked at pizza shops and as a doughnut baker growing up, but landed his first real restaurant gig after knocking on the door at Chef Jeremy Fox’s restaurant, Rustic Canyon. After learning the fundamentals of cooking and then recipe testing amongst friends at home, Ray set-out to launch a pop-up of his own, Cinqué. The concept was built around the idea of making contemporary food that traces the migration of his ancestors back to West Africa. Now, Ray is making the food he wants to see out there and creating dishes that reflect where he is in this moment, which is Southern California and in the year 2020. In this episode, we discuss how he’s reimagined soul food and Southern classics, what Hoppin’ John is and how he took his mothers recipe and made it his own, introducing people to their own food heritage and how soul food can be a part of the renaissance of black expression. Tune in and follow @rayanthonybarrett and @cinque_la on Instagram!