Candid Conversations with Chefs - VIDEO

Fresh off his first-ever trip to Africa, celebrated Chicago chef Erick Williams sits down with me to chat about his eye-opening culinary experiences in Cameroon.

Chef Erick Williams at his award-winning Virtue Restaurant. Photo: Audarshia Townsend

The last time I saw chef Erick Williams, my gastronomy-loving gal pal Sylvia Perez of FOX 32-Chicago and I dined at his esteemed Virtue Restaurant in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood in February. Much has been written about this upscale Southern-focused eatery because it’s just that good, plus Williams just happens to embody a charismatic personality.

That’s one of the reasons why we jumped at the chance to order the Champagne with a Chef option on the menu, when guests who order a bottle of bubbly are gifted with the unique experience of spending some quality time with Williams or chef de cuisine Damarr Brown at their table. They’ll pretty much talk about anything—within reason, of course.

What Williams didn’t tell us that evening was that he was planning his first-ever trip to Africa. More specifically, he and a group of Americans were soon taking a 10-day trip to Cameroon to feast like royalty. And speaking of royalty, during the excursion, Williams was lucky enough to meet Nfon (King) Sultan Mohammed Nabil Mbombo Njoya, the current reigning monarch of the Bamoun kingdom. He was crowned sultan King of the Bamoun kingdom immediately after his father’s funeral in 2021.

Williams told me about his experience meeting the young king as well as his adventures eating suya roadside and more during a recent virtual interview (see above video). I was especially interested in the local food scene and culture. For example, he ate savory beignets with beans, drank sorrel and palm wine, shopped in the hectic markets, and cooked fresh chickens, okra, beef tenderloin and red peas for a prominent group of local food enthusiasts. Most dishes were cooked directly over a grill with charcoal, he says, or over a live fire with cast iron pots.

“I was really just taking it all in,” Williams recalls about his experience. “I didn’t go in with an expectation. … I had never been there before, but I didn’t go there thinking about what I had heard [from others]. I just wanted to be present.

“That’s really what I focused my time on: being present, having a spirit of gratitude. People did not have to receive us in the way that they did. And they didn’t have to take the time out to talk to us.”

What a time! Watch the video above for more of what we discussed.

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