Damarr Brown

Brown was born in Germany and grew up in Harvey, Illinois.[2][1] He is an only child and was raised by his mother, grandmother, and aunt, all of whom encouraged his interest in cooking.[2][3][1] His mother set Chopped-style challenges for him, purchasing a variety of ingredients and telling him to produce a dish with them.[4][5] His grandmother was born in Mississippi, and he learned to cook Black southern cuisine from her.[6]

Brown graduated from Chicago's Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in 2011.[2]

Brown worked at mk in Chicago for seven years under Erick Williams, starting as an unpaid prep cook and eventually as garde manger and sous chef.[2][6][1] With Williams' encouragement he moved to Roister for a year, and when Williams opened Virtue in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood in 2018, he hired Brown as chef de cuisine.[2][6][7] Virtue serves Black southern cuisine.[1] Esquire named it to their list of the best new restaurants in the country in 2019.[8][9]

In 2022 Brown competed on Top Chef, coming in fourth behind Buddha Lo, Evelyn Garcia, and Sarah Welch; Brown was voted fan favorite.[2][6] That same year, Food & Wine named him one of the country's best new chefs in 2022.[10][11]

Brown and three other Black James Beard Award winners, including Williams, Gregory Gourdet, and Kwame Onwuachi created a popup restaurant showcasing cuisines of the African diaspora at the 2023 Aspen Food & Wine Classic.[12]

In 2023 Brown was named Best Emerging Chef by the James Beard Foundation.[3][13]