Chef Tanya Holland On Oakland, The James Beard Foundation, and Favorite Bites

Chef Tanya Holland is a marvel. If she’s not teaching Selena Gomez how to make biscuits and fried chicken, then she’s hosting a podcast or pitching shows to the Oprah Winfrey Network. In conversation, Holland is cheery and informative, qualities borne of a life of curiosity, hard work and now decades of success. Holland, who, over the years, has also been a contestant on Top Chef and hosted her own show on the Food Network, is known for her Oakland eatery, Brown Sugar Kitchen. The establishment has become so renowned the city’s mayor named an official day after Holland. We caught up with the culinary star to ask her about her favorite bites of food, working with the James Beard Foundation, how she’s become so multi-talented and, if she could wave a wand, what dish would she conjure.