Make It Messy

Marcus Samuelsson is a world-renowned chef, restaurateur, and author whose culinary influence spans continents. His acclaimed restaurant portfolio includes the iconic Red Rooster Harlem and over a dozen more establishments worldwide. An eight-time James Beard Award winner, Emmy Award–winning producer, and best-selling author, Samuelsson is also frequently seen on TV, with regular appearances on shows such as Chopped and Top Chef. In addition to his culinary work, he has made inroads in fashion, from Vanity Fair’s Best Dressed List to curating the Met Gala, and recently moved into lifestyle design with his successful West Elm home collection. Beyond his professional ventures, he is Co-Chair of Culinary Careers Program (CCAP) and serves as a Frontline Advisor for World Central Kitchen, advancing access to culinary education and food security around the globe. Marcus runs accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and X at @MarcusCooks and he also shares content on Tiktok at @Marcus_Cooks. He lives in New York City with his family.

Veronica Chambers is a prolific author, best known for her critically acclaimed memoir Mama’s Girl. She coauthored the award-winning memoir Yes, Chef with chef Marcus Samuelsson, as well as Samuelsson’s young-adult memoir Make It Messy, and has collaborated on four New York Times bestsellers, most recently 32 Yolks, which she cowrote with chef Eric Ripert. She has been a senior editor at the New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and Glamour. Born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn, she writes often about her Afro-Latina heritage. She speaks, reads, and writes Spanish, but she is truly fluent in Spanglish. She is currently a John S. Knight journalism fellow at Stanford University. Her upcoming novel is The Go-Between.