"Sharing Savory Stories On The Makings of America’s Cuisine & Diverse Culinary Scenes...”
In her work with museums, cultural orgs, chefs, culinary entrepreneurs, nonprofit and for-profit clients, Tonya applies her culinary history craft to serve up actionable nonfiction narratives via her uniquely American, ancestrally-inspired, global approach to rediscovering more inclusive understandings of our shared pasts thus illuminating new opportunities in the present to positively impact the future.
TFG’s Widely Applicable Work:
Get a glimpse of Tonya’s food history work in this short vid by ABC Studios to intro her on episodes of“The Chew”
Ms. Hopkins helped cofound the nonprofit James Hemings Society as an organization and platform to recognize and actively uphold the enduring yet oft overlooked Black culinary talents that so profoundly shaped the development of fine dining in the Americas. Tonya was the first and only food historian to be featured and appear in episodes of the long-running, daily ABC TV show, “The Chew” and served as the foremost food historian for the best-selling Celebrity Chef cookbook “Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration.” In the beverage arena, Tonya teaches wine education classes at a Black-owned wine boutique in Brooklyn (Good Wine: A Food Lover’s Wineshop) and creates historically informed, culturally-relevant cocktails for a range of clients, incl. drink design & wine curation for award-winning Chefs seeking her help with what best pairs with their fare for the multi-course meals they're invited to make at the famed James Beard Foundation.
Ms. Hopkins custom-researched and wrote the “African Origins of Beer” narrative prominently displayed onsite at Harlem Hops, the nation’s first 100% African-American owned & operated Craft Beer Bar & Restaurant, in addition to designing its inaugural wine list and creating the flagship cocktails. Tonya serves as the lead Culinary History Advisor for the Old Stone House of Brooklyn’s Food & Public History program where she launched a seasonal spirits sipping series to convey inclusive American history through the “liquidy lenses” of pillar potations (e.g., rum, gin, brandy, mezcal, tequila, whiskey and bourbon). Most recently she’s began generating spirited content, special events, strategic sales and powerful promos for premium spirits client Eléctrico Mezcal…
Tonya served as an active Advisor on the Museum of Food & Drink’s (MOFAD) “African/American: Making the Nation’s Table” exhibition and throughout 2022 into 2023 co-created, produced, show-ran and hosted the weekly multi-media show “Savory & Sweet: Food History & Culture” on WURDRadio.com, one of just a few Black-owned and operated talk radio stations in the nation. (Want to know even more about Tonya? See also her more detailed background info on the TFG TUMBLR page)