Chef Mashama Bailey reflects on Time 100 honor, new Paris restaurant

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Mashama Bailey, chief executive chef and co-founder of The Grey, was named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list.

Bailey said she learned of the honor about a month or two before the announcement. She said Kamala Harris wrote her biography for the feature.

“I’m really humbled and excited,” Bailey said.

Bailey said she met Harris in 2024 during Harris’ campaign trail stop in Savannah. She said the two talked about collard greens.

In May, Chef Bailey was also honored by The World’s 50 Best for her work redefining and preserving Southern and Black American food culture at her Savannah restaurant, The Grey. They named her North America’s Best Female Chef.

Career recognition

Bailey said she did not envision this level of recognition when she was younger.

“When I was younger, I think I thought about a happy life. I thought about a good life, being able to support myself,” Bailey said. “I never really thought that I would be on this level.”

Bailey has also been featured on Chef’s Table, received James Beard nominations, and was named one of the most important chefs in America by the Financial Times.

“And all I’m doing is telling black stories,” Bailey said. “I’m telling the stories of my grandmothers. I’m telling the stories of my friends and their family.”

Family influence

Bailey said her family, including her mother, aunts and grandmothers, influenced her path into cooking. She said there are few photos of her in the kitchen growing up because she and other children were kept out of the kitchen.

Bailey said she instead learned by talking with her grandmothers about their lives and their food preferences.

“I think in those stories, I’m trying to translate that to the food that we cook at The Grey and also the food that we cook in Paris,” Bailey said.

New restaurant in Paris

Bailey and business partner John Morisano opened L’Arrêt by The Grey in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, near the Louvre, in September 2025.

Bailey said she and Morisano split their time between Savannah and Paris.

Mentorship and the Edna Lewis Foundation

Bailey said her focus shifted over the years from seeking respect as a Black woman chef to serving as an example for young chefs. She credited chef Joe Randall, who recently died, with shaping that perspective after she moved to Savannah.

Bailey said Randall was involved with The Grey and was the founder of the Edna Lewis Foundation. She said Edna Lewis owned and was a partner in a restaurant in New York City in the 1940s and wrote cookbooks.

Bailey is now chairwoman of the Edna Lewis Foundation. She said the foundation offers scholarships to young people interested in storytelling, farming and cooking.

Bailey said The Grey operates as a teaching restaurant, offering mentorship-based training beyond what can be learned online.

“You can watch YouTube and see how someone butchers a fish, but you don’t know the nuances of cooking unless you’re cooking alongside mentorship,” Bailey said.