My Ackee Tree: A Chef's Memoir of Finding Home in the Kitchen

This book was not what I expected, it was much more. The intimacy and rawness mixed with the excitement and adventure is magical

A wonderful look that inspired one of Canada's greatest chefs in her formative years and as a culinary icon. Especially poignant is her experience as a black woman in the industry and the challenges and joys of opening (and closing) restaurants and staying relevant in a changing industry.

This was an incredibly powerful and heartfelt read. The relationships that Barr explores, like the one with her mother, and how they affected her growing up were eye-opening. It goes to show how even the smallest moments in our lives have the power to serve as life lessons later on.

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Suzanne Barr has become one of the most respected and beloved chefs for her flair for fresh comfort food and also her passion for the local community, food security, and advocacy.

Suzanne’s career as a chef, author, social activist, and culinary mentor is inspired by both her mother and father, two novice chefs, who instilled a lifelong passion to cherish the role that food plays in both nourishing the body and soul.

Chef Suzanne’s expansive culinary career includes her role as the inaugural Chef-In-Residence at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, Canada, owner of the former Saturday Dinette, and head chef and owner of True True diner, a concept that paid homage to the sites of many civil rights sit-ins and the history of the diner in breaking down segregation.

What is most impressive, however, is Suzanne’s relentless advocacy for food security, marginalized communities, mental health, pay equity, nutrition literacy, and food source sustainability. Her truest form of self-expression is empowering and mentoring other women chefs.

In 2022, Suzanne published My Ackee Tree, A Chef’s Memoir of Finding Home in the Kitchen, which takes readers on a personal journey of food, family, soul-searching, self-discovery, and even motherhood that leads Suzanne home, in the kitchen, and closer to her Jamaican Heritage.

To purchase your copy of My Ackee Tree, please visit your local bookstore.