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Mariya Moore-Russell (c. 1989) is an American chef and restaurateur. She became the first black woman to be awarded a Michelin star in September 2019 while working as a chef at Kumiko and Kikkō.[1] [2] [3]
She grew up in Springfield, Ohio with her parents and four sisters.[1] She moved to Columbus, Ohio for high school where she participated in a career academy that first introduced her to the idea of becoming a chef.[4] After high school, she moved to Chicago and studied at The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago where she graduated in 2008.
While in Chicago, Mariya Russell worked at Uncommon Ground, Green Zebra, The Bristol, Nellcote, and Senza. It was at Green Zebra that she met Cara Sandoval and Noah Sandoval who would later invite her to be part of Kumiko and Kikkō. She moved to Charleston, South Carolina with her husband (at the time), chef Garrett Russell, and stayed for three years. They returned to Chicago in 2016 after her father's death and after the realization that Charleston wasn’t an easy place to exist for a black woman.[3] She took a job as a server at Oriole in July 2016 where she went on to become sous-chef and chef de cuisine in 2018. While working at Oriole, Noah Sandoval asked Russell to be the chef for his new project Kumiko and Kikko.[5] It was while she worked at Kumiko and Kikkō that she was awarded a Michelin star in September 2019 days before her 30th birthday. Shortly after that, she announced on Instagram that she was taking a break to prioritize her well-being; “I wasn’t really able to take care of myself on a day-to-day basis; the job was all I was able to fit into my life at the time…I just wanted to do more for myself and better for myself.” Chef Mariya decided to pivot her career in the direction of entrepreneurship. She moved to Hawaii in August 2020 on a journey to find and embrace what she ultimately wanted in life. On this journey she learned more about her values, prioritized rest, and figured out the next steps of her newfound visions for the future. The last couple of years have been based around pop-ups and chef collaborations. This has led her to the creation of her new concept, Connie’s Underground Supper Club. More information coming soon!