Pierre Thiam

Chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, Pierre Thiam was raised in Dakar, Senegal, a bustling and diverse metropolis on the west coast of Africa. Pierre came to American to study chemistry in the late 1980s; he ended up working in a restaurant in New York and discovered chemistry of a very different sort.

He worked his way up the ladder from dishwasher to chef before opening his own restaurant. He is the currently Executive Chef of the award-winning restaurant Nok by Alara in Lagos, Nigeria and the Signature Chef of the five-star Pullman Hotel in Dakar, Senegal. He is also the executive chef and co-owner of Teranga, a fast-casual food chain from New York City. His company Yolélé Foods advocates for smallholder farmers in the Sahel by opening new markets for crops grown in Africa; its signature product, Yolélé Fonio, is found in Whole Foods, Amazon, and other retailers across America.

In addition to his role as restaurateur, Pierre is known as a passionate advocate of West African cuisine. His landmark book from Lake Isle Press, The Fonio Cookbook: An Ancient Grain Rediscovered, celebrates the ancient “miracle grain” from his childhood that he believes could help change the world. His other Lake Isle Press books, Yolele! Recipes from the Heart of Senegal and Senegal: Modern Senegalese Recipes from the Source to the Bowl, were IACP and James Beard finalists, respectively. His TED GLOBAL talk on the subject of fonio in November 2017 has received more than 1.1 million views. In 2024 he was inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame.

Pierre has shared his love of Senegalese food with the late Anthony Bourdain on CNN's Parts Unknown, Season 7. Other media appearances include the Food Network’s Iron Chef, Gourmet Getaways, Sara’s Secrets, ABC’s Eyewitness News, NBC’s TODAY, and NPR’s Splendid Table. He has also been profiled on CNN’s Inside Africa. He lives in El Cerrito, California with his wife Lisa, their daughter Na’ia, and dog Malcolm.

Sara Costa