Soul food chef Keith Corbin has lived many lives. He’s now a James Beard Award-nominated chef and the co-owner of the restaurant Alta Adams in Los Angeles. It’s been named one of the best restaurants in the country by Esquire and the Los Angeles Times.
He’s also a former gang member and was incarcerated in prisons across California before entering the kitchen.
“I’ve tried on pieces of my friends to see if it fit for me,” Corbin explained at an event hosted by KPCC in Los Angeles.
Corbin is also an author. He’s out with a new memoir called “California Soul: An American Epic of Cooking and Survival.” Itfocuses on the role food plays in our sense of community, home, and identity.
We talk to Corbin about soul food, restaurant life, incarceration, and more.
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