Chef Claudy Pierre's Expanding Culinary Rise: Putting Haiti on the Map
Derived from a long lineage of Haitian hospitality, Brooklyn born Chef Claudy Pierre channels his family’s nourishing “labor of love” legacy throughout the culinary arts realm. Chef Claudy’s community focused objectives make equitable food secure dreams a reality through vision, innovation, and action. Claudy’s numerous “ground-up” entrepreneurial pursuits are rooted in his family based passion to bring people together, generating warmth and welcomeness with each distinct culinary experience.
“The level of care and attention that the Haitian culture gives to food shows how much we care about food, that's what is running through my veins,” said Claudy reflecting on his deep cultural connections to his craft. Between catering large scale events for high end clientele, to tackling food scarcity with the non profit E.A.T. initiative, Claudy’s continued perseverance amidst adversity like the pandemic represents the characteristics that Haitian heritage month stands for.
In the spirit of Haitian excellence, Chef Claudy hit the South Florida scene with a tantalizing food demo at the Black Professional Network’s Haitian Heritage celebration last week, engaging the crowd in exuberant demeanor. Personal Injury law firm Demesmin and Dover, founded by Haitian attorney Victor Demesmin hosted the event, joining in on the Haitian cuisine with a number of cultural bites. With a savory culmination of vegetables, Chef Claudy along with Chef Rachelle showed the audience how to concoct the seasoning Epis, a pesto-like blend of peppers, garlic, and herbs used as the foundation of many a Haitian dish. The rich mix of bell peppers, onions and avocados in the form of Epis featured in Table Magazine was a familiar taste to the many attendees that grew up with the sauce, and a new sensation to those novice to Haitian cuisine.
Networking, the root of the mixer and one of BPN’s aims, is also a major pillar in Chef Claudy’s entrepreneurial beginnings and continued success, centered around the relationship building business. A man of many hustles, Claudy’s career in both luxury sales and the hotel industry expanded his network and helped catapult his book of business, bringing various diverse sectors a taste of his hospitality. Eminent Hospitality was born in 2015, gracing the culinary spotlight with its quality chef services and food literacy objectives, creating its own niche in the hospitality industry. Claudy’s charitable aims deriving from his generous esteemed grandmother Marie sparked the Empowerment Awareness & Training (E.A.T.) Initiative, a non-profit serving to empower communities to source and procure their own food
Claudy’s community focused drive propelled his business through hospitality hits like the pandemic, producing fresh boxed dinners to families in need throughout the neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. With 1 in 6 restaurants closing last year, and black ones at a much higher rate, hustle and creativity motivated the chef to not only survive, but thrive amidst the chaotic climate of Covid.
“If you build with the community you will never fall. We started the E.A.T. initiative (empowerment, awareness, and training) which was a blessing. We were able to manage time, get our paperwork together, and focus on our community. It was a wonderful experience to serve our people and keep our staff on board. We did about 70k hot meals thus far and we have raised a lot of money to really push it back into the community.” said Chef Claudy.
When it comes to the future of Claudy Pierre’s culinary and community endeavors, he plans on expanding to custom cookware, as well as fresh produce outlets in health food scarce corners of the city of Pittsburgh. Chef Claudy’s family based Haitian values and vision to impact the world highlight the innovation that runs through the Haitian diaspora this heritage month and all seasons of the year.