Rising proudly from the intersection of family and food comes Chef Kwame's latest tour de force. Meet the team bringing the newest culinary experience to life in Lincoln Center. Click the link below if you would like to join our family.
Kwame Onwuachi
Kwame Onwuachi is a James Beard Award-winning chef and author of the critically acclaimed cookbook "My America," as well as his memoir "Notes from a Young Black Chef," which is being turned into a feature film by A24.
Chef Kwame's accolades include being named one of Food & Wine's "Best New Chefs," Esquire Magazine's "2019 Chef of the Year," and is a "30 Under 30" honoree by both Zagat and Forbes. He's also been featured on Time's "100 Next" list and has been named the "Most Important Chef in America" by the San Francisco Chronicle.
In addition, Kwame hosted the 2021 and 2022 James Beard Awards in Chicago, and currently serves as Food & Wine's executive producer. In this newly appointed role, Kwame will collaborate on big brand moments and events, including the "Food & Wine Classic" in Aspen, and "The Family Reunion: Presented by Kwame Onwuachi" — an annual multi-day event in Middleburg, Virginia, which celebrates diversity in the hospitality community.
To date, Chef Kwame has opened 5 restaurants before turning 30, and is currently focusing attention on his newest concept, "Tatiana," in Lincoln Center.
Kamat Newman
Restaurant Chef de Cuisine
Born in Centreville, Illinois and raised in St. Louis, Kamat Newman attended culinary school in the Chicago. After finishing culinary School, Kamat joined Soho House, where her role required extensive travel throughout the United States.
After discovering her West African ancestry, Kamat developed a passion for that region's culture and heritage, especially in terms of the culinary arts. Combining those influences with her own experiences – which includes traditional southern cuisine – she developed her own signature approach to cooking, which can be experienced at Tatiana, where her passion for food and community conjure an elevated sense of home and hospitality each and every day.
Bradley Knebel
Restaurant GM
While Bradley Knebel was born in Connecticut, he was raised in Georgia, where he fell in love with restaurants at a young age. After pursuing a degree in mathematics, he worked in a number of Atlanta-based restaurants across a span of eight years. In 2012, Bradley moved to New York City, where he started his hospitality career as a server and sommelier with Union Square Hospitality Group. Over the following years, Bradley has continued to hone his craft through an eclectic array of roles, from Senior Manager of Business Intelligence to Director of Business Development. Currently, Bradley expresses his lifelong passion for hospitality by serving as General Manager at Tatiana.
Amy Racine
Wine Consultant
Amy Racine is Beverage Director of JF Restaurants, a full-service hospitality group operating creative F&B concepts across America.
Amy attended the Culinary Institute of America for her Bachelor’s in Culinary Arts, followed by a year in the Accelerated Wine and Beverage Program at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley. In 2011, she became the Wine Director of AMANGIRI resort in Utah, before moving to San Francisco in 2012 as Beverage Director for the Michelin-starred Sons & Daughters. In 2014, Ms. Racine was named one of the “Best New Sommeliers” by Wine & Spirits Magazine and a Zagat’s “30 Under 30” for San Francisco.
By 2016, Amy had become the Wine Director at Chef John Fraser’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Dovetail. After earning Wine Spectator’s “Best Of” award for that establishment, she became the Beverage Director for JF Restaurants, responsible for cocktail creation, unique wine curation, and building premier beverage programs for all JF's restaurants and bars.
Currently, Amy spearheads a wide array of beverage programs for The Times Square EDITION hotels in NYC, West Hollywood and Tampa, and supervises three concepts at The Wall Street Hotel.
Other accolades for Amy include Wine Spectator’s “Best Of” award (2020), and Esquire’s “Best Bars in America” list (2020) for 701West. In addition, Ms. Racine was named Esquire's “Beverage Director of the Year” (2021), and has been nominated for “Sommelier/Beverage Director of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast (2022).
Don Lee
Cocktails Consultant
A software engineer by trade and a documentary photographer by schooling, Don Lee is a spirits and cocktail educator.
He got his start working as a bartender at the world renown Death and Company, then went on to become the Opening Beverage Director of PDT (Please Don't Tell). His next stop was at David Chang's Momofuku group, where he launched their hard spirits and cocktail programs. Don then served as the Founding Director of Product Development at Cocktail Kingdom, where he designed what would later serve as the benchmark for professional barware.
In the summer of 2018, Lee partnered with Dave Arnold to open the James Beard-nominated cocktail bar Existing Conditions. Two years later, in 2020, Lee won Best American Bar Mentor at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. He continues to hone his craft as one of the judges of the Ultimate Beverage Challenge and push for greater access to opportunities in the hospitality industry for all.
Mouhamadou Diop
Complex GM
Originally from Senegal, Mouhamadou Diop spent the majority of his youth in France, but by the year 2000, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a family's personal chef while pursuing a degree in electrical engineering. Since that time, Mouhamadou has held key leadership positions at some of New York's most prominent restaurants, developing and opening multiple concepts alongside Tom Colicchio, Laurent Tournodel, Jean-Georges and Paul Newman. Today, Mouhamadou brings his boundless passion and extensive experience to Tatiana, where he serves as the restaurant's Complex Director.