10/05/2022
Introducing Chef Ariya Taylor! We are proud to announce that rising South Side chef Ariya Taylor (Foooooodd]) has been selected as the next chef-in-residence at the Retreat at Currency Exchange Café ().
Chef Ariya will become the third resident food artist at our Washington Park culinary incubator as part of our hospitality training program, a six-month residency created to support emerging BIPOC entrepreneurs in the culinary and hospitality arts. During her residency, Chef Ariya will work under the tutelage of former Parachute executive sous chef, Ellison Park, to develop a menu, learn hospitality business fundamentals and support her growth as an artist and creative entrepreneur.
Chef Ariya’s craft honors traditional Black foodways – a practice she began refining with her great grandmother when she was eight years old – as she experiments with custom seasonings that elevate and preserve the integrity of fresh local ingredients. Chef Ariya, a painter and poet whose creative interests inspire what she puts on a plate, will present her cuisine during lunch service (11am - 3pm) Monday through Friday and dinner service (5pm - 9pm) Thursday and Friday evenings at Retreat.
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