Gregory Gourdet
Chef, Restaurateur & Writer
Gregory Gourdet believes true freedom begins within.
The three-time James Beard Award-winning chef has built an acclaimed career celebrating the flavours and history of the Black diaspora. The son of Haitian immigrants, Gourdet found his calling in cooking after initially pursuing careers in medicine and wildlife biology.
After overcoming many years of addiction, Gourdet found what he describes as the most important kind of freedom: inner peace, gratitude and joy. Those experiences continue to shape both his life and his work.
Today, Gourdet is chef-owner of Kann in Portland, Culinary Director of Printemps New York overseeing five concepts, and is a member of the US State Department’s American Culinary Corp. In 2021, he released his James Beard Award-winning cookbook, Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health, reflecting his belief that food can nourish both people and culture.
What really matters to you?
Freedom of mind. We place so much importance on other people, what they do and don’t do for us. But I believe true freedom starts from within. You can’t ask of others unless you’re truly comfortable within your own body and mind. I learned this during a dark patch in my life – through many years of addiction and substance abuse. Joy must be sustained through active work. Whether the obstacles to joy are internal, like your physiology, or external, like other people or the sensory overload fueled by technology and by our crazy, sometimes terrible world, it’s ultimately up to you to seek joy.
How did you overcome addiction? Was there a tipping point moment?
The short answer is that I did it through AA and the support of my friends and family. But everyone has a different journey to admitting that they have a problem and deciding to change their lives. Mine was full of starts and stops. But what started me on the journey was the realization that I wanted to change, had to change, and could change – that it was possible.
From there, I looked to other people for support and inspiration. I try not to compare myself to other people, but I do let myself be inspired by them. So, when I saw my friends were finding success, buying houses, and having families, I didn’t envy them. I admired them. The same went for fellow addicts I met in recovery. I saw their lives and their courage as motivation.
Strangely, there wasn’t a tipping point moment, or at least, not the kind you might imagine. I had many rock bottoms – from car accidents to arrests to jumping the subway turnstile because I had no money to get home. My first stint in rehab failed. I left four jobs in one year and lived in three states, trying to outrun myself. At some point, I’d just had enough and began to look inward. I remember looking in the mirror and asking myself, ‘Am I ready to change?’ And deep down, I truly felt ready. That was the last day I drank or smoked a cigarette – the last day of my old life. I got healthy. I focused on my career. My life took a 180-degree turn.
“BEING FREE IS JOY.”
Do you think freedom is something we’re given or something we’re responsible for?
Freedom is definitely something we’re responsible for. History will continue to repeat itself. A lot of us were born into unfair situations. It happens in America and all around the world; in rich nations and in countries with developing economics. That unfairness is there, and it is very real. From birth, we have to fight for that freedom.
Some of us are born into challenging family situations. Everything could go wrong in your life if you don’t have a proper upbringing with stability. That can derail you completely. Suffering trauma and major grief as a child can affect you powerfully and follow you for quite some time. We’re all fighting these shackles as we grow up and fighting to protect ourselves. When we’re young and impressionable, we’re not always sure what’s going on. There is a lot of injustice in this world, so it’s important we realize that, from the moment of birth, it’s a fight. Some of us will have it easy and some of us will have it far worse. Most of us will be in the middle. It’s truly a fight for freedom from the day you are born.
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