Chef A. James comes from a generation of exquisite cooks from the Caribbean Islands. Chef James' roots combine two beautiful islands known as St. Kitts/Nevis and the Dominican Republic. Although she is the first generation born Caribbean American, her parents instilled a strict British education fundamental in her.

 

Chef A. James's Grandfather (Charles James) was the head chef at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Boston, Ma. She would watch him cook along side with the women of the house at the tender age of eight. Chef A. James learned how to prepare her traditional island dishes and often travel home to the Caribbean to celebrate her roots (i.e., language, food, music, dance, and cultural traditions). Whether it was for carnival, holidays or a family celebration, she was in love with food and her cultural cuisines.

 

Chef A. James grandmother is known as the ultimate West Indian baker that people from around the island would come and ask for desserts (i.e., coconut hand tart, rum cake, black cake, coconut custard, pork bread).