Tanya Holland

Executive Chef/Owner, Brown Sugar Kitchen; Oakland, CA

Acclaimed for her inventive take on modern soul food, as well as comfort classics, Tanya Holland is the executive chef/owner of the internationally renowned and beloved Brown Sugar Kitchen restaurant, located in Oakland, CA. The author of The Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook and New Soul Cooking, Holland competed on the 15th season of Top Chef on Bravo, appears on the new HBO Max show Selena + Chef featuring Selena Gomez, and is the host of OWN’s Tanya’s Kitchen Table. In 2020, Holland launched the Tanya’s Table podcast with MuddHouse Media. She is on the board of trustees for the James Beard Foundation, and Brown Sugar Kitchen has received multiple Michelin Bib Gourmand awards. Additionally, she has teamed up with Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) to create a new café concept for the museum: Town Fare by Tanya Holland in 2021. She is an in-demand public speaker and lecturer who frequently leads the conversation on inclusion and equity in the hospitality industry. (Oakland, CA) @mstanyaholland