Long before Chef Kenyatta Ashford entered professional kitchens or won “Chopped,” he learned what food meant in a crowded Louisiana home, where meals were rooted in history and identity rather than presentation.
Growing up in a family in which his father was one of 13 siblings and his mother one of nine, gatherings were large, loud and anchored by dishes such as gumbo, red beans and rice and seafood-stuffed vegetables.
Those meals left an imprint that would only fully reveal itself years later.
“I realized food has the power to bring people together,” Ashford says.
At the time, though, cooking was not the plan. Ashford arrived in Tennessee in 1999 as a college basketball player at Lee University, focused on business and education.
He built a life that had little to do with kitchens, becoming a graduate assistant, a basketball coach and a teacher in the Hamilton County Schools.
It was only after marriage – and immersion into his wife’s family catering business – that a different path began to take shape.
That slow pivot from the classroom to the kitchen now finds itself at a new turning point.
Bigger than one day
On April 26, Ashford will step into that next phase publicly with “The Reveal Event: Neutral Ground x SoulQue,” a one-day culinary collaboration at the Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga.
The event pairs Ashford’s concept, Neutral Ground, with SoulQue 423, a local barbecue brand known for its smoke-driven approach.
Together, the chefs will present a menu that blends distinct culinary traditions – West African influences, Afro-Creole storytelling and Southern barbecue techniques – into a single, cohesive experience.
Guests can expect a smoked lamb chop plate served with sides like herb-roasted potato salad, smoked Gouda mac and cheese, and braised collard greens, alongside house-made sauces such as mint chimichurri and garlic butter. A peach crumble with Chantilly cream rounds out the menu.
But the centerpiece of the event is something more symbolic: a surprise dish previewing the direction of Neutral Ground’s forthcoming brick-and-mortar restaurant, expected to open later this year.
The first 20 guests in line will receive that preview item as an early glimpse into a concept that has been years in the making.
From New York to Southern roots
Ashford’s journey to this moment has been anything but linear.
After leaving teaching, he made a decisive leap, moving his young family to New York to attend the Culinary Institute of America – an experience he describes as both demanding and transformative. He immersed himself in the craft, even taking a job in the school’s culinary library to absorb as much knowledge as possible.
From there, he returned to New Orleans, working in high-level kitchens and rising quickly into leadership roles. Opportunities followed across the country – from Blackberry Farm in Tennessee to fine dining establishments in Rhode Island – each sharpening his technique and expanding his perspective.
Yet the path was not without its challenges. The demands of the profession, combined with family responsibilities, led to periods of burnout. At one point, Ashford stepped away from cooking entirely, taking a job outside the industry before feeling the pull back to the kitchen.
That return would ultimately rewrite his philosophy.
“I want to be exceptional at what I do,” he says. “I love food and I love the idea of hospitality and how it makes people feel.”
Culinary philosophy rooted in identity
What distinguishes Ashford’s work today is not just technical skill but a deeply researched, culturally grounded approach to cuisine.
Through a series of experiences – including a James Beard Foundation scholarship and multiple trips to Africa – he began exploring the broader story of the African diaspora and its influence on global foodways. Those journeys informed the foundation of Neutral Ground, which he describes as an “Afro-Creole” concept that draws connections across continents rather than limiting itself to a single regional identity.
“We’re not making food in terms of what people typically would attribute to be Black food,” Ashford says. “It has more depth than that.”
That depth shows up in both ingredients and storytelling. A dish like Red Red – a West African black-eyed pea stew made with palm oil – becomes an entry point into a larger narrative about migration, trade and cultural exchange.
Even staple combinations like rice and beans are framed within a global context, connecting cuisines from Brazil to the Caribbean to the American South.
For Ashford, the goal is not simply to serve food but to give diners the context behind what they’re tasting.
“I think it makes the food taste better,” he says. “It gives it more meaning.”
Building toward a permanent home
Neutral Ground itself reflects that philosophy in both name and mission.
Borrowed from New Orleans vernacular, the term refers to the median spaces where people from different backgrounds historically came together – common ground in a divided city. Ashford has adopted the concept as a guiding principle for his work.
“It’s a common place where people can come together, break bread and set aside differences,” he says.
For now, that idea exists primarily through pop-ups, private dinners and collaborations like “The Reveal Event.” Operating out of the Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga, Ashford and his team have had to navigate the limitations of a nontraditional setup, such as irregular hours, limited capacity and the challenge of building a consistent audience.
Still, the model has allowed them to experiment, refine their menu and build anticipation ahead of a permanent location.
That location – planned for later this year – will provide the stability and visibility needed to fully realize the Neutral Ground vision: a restaurant that merges culinary excellence with cultural storytelling, rooted in Ashford’s personal journey and broader historical exploration.
The April 26 event will offer a preview of not just a menu but also of a trajectory.
For Ashford, it represents the latest chapter in a story that began decades ago in a Louisiana kitchen, where food first revealed its power to connect. Now, that same idea is poised to take on a larger stage.