Raised in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans as one of seven siblings, Kenyatta Ashford found his love for food at a young age over lingering family meals hosted by his mother Sharon and his Uncle Walter. Never one to follow a normal path, Ashford became a high school teacher after playing basketball at Lee University. After building a robust teaching and coaching career, Kenyatta’s summer sessions spent helping in a catering kitchen awoke his childhood passion for the tastes of home. At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like much of the hospitality industry, Kenyatta’s role was furloughed early during the pandemic leaving him with a sound set of skills and a family to help feed. Within weeks, he created the concept for Neutral Ground and set-up shop in Chattanooga’s Proof Incubator. Ashford carries this spirit into all of his work of creating common spaces where people can come together across backgrounds and beliefs. The menu at Neutral Ground is a product of Ashford’s “afro-creole” identity and vision where he’s constantly reflecting on and reimagining cuisine that reaches all the way back to his ancestors who were enslaved in West Africa and brought to the Americas and journeys through the rich and often over-simplified culinary traditions of his hometown New Orleans. Dishes on the menu range from bean and rice dishes with strong African influences to interpretations of working class staples from New Orleans like po’boys and yakamein.Kenyatta recently won Food Network’s Chopped and he and Neutral Ground have been featured in Conde Nast, Eater, Travel Noire, the New York Times and more. Beyond the kitchen, Ashford is passionate about providing pathways for emerging culinary leaders into the industry. His first team member to join Neutral Ground is a former student and player from his coaching days.