Soulful and Beloved Boulder Eats: A Curated Menu of African American Food Professionals

Date and Time

• Monday, Jan 26, 2026  5:30pm - 7:30pm

Location

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Details

What stories live behind Boulder’s most influential Black food professionals? Join Adrian Miller (the Soul Food Scholar) for an illuminating talk that centers the people, places, and legacies behind the plates including: Roger and Sadie Arnold, O.T. Jackson, Bruce Randolph Jr., and Mary White. Stay after the program for a tasting provided by a local, Black-owned restaurant.

About Adrian Miller:

Adrian Miller is an award-winning culinary author, professional speaker, certified barbecue judge, and former attorney. Adrian previously served as a White House special assistant to President Bill Clinton, and as a senior policy analyst for Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr. He is currently the Executive Director of the Colorado Council of Churches, and recently co-curated the “Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History” exhibit which was on view at the Museum of Boulder from summer of 2024 to September of 2025, and will reopen at the Pueblo History Museum in January of 2026.

Adrian delivers captivating keynotes that blend food, history, and race. With humor, insight, and deep scholarship, he empowers organizations to spark inclusive conversations, embrace cultural complexity, and lead with authenticity.

Adrian received an A.B. in International Relations from Stanford University in 1991, and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1995. From 1999 to 2001, Adrian served as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton with his Initiative for One America – the first free-standing office in the White House to address issues of racial, religious and ethnic reconciliation. Adrian went on to serve as a senior policy analyst for Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr. From 2004 to 2010, he served on the board for the Southern Foodways Alliance. In June 2019, Adrian lectured in the Masters of Gastronomy program at the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche (nicknamed the “Slow Food University”) in Pollenzo, Italy. He is currently the executive director of the Colorado Council of Churches and, as such, is the first African American, and the first layperson, to hold that position.

Adrian’s first book, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time, won the James Beard Foundation Award for Scholarship and Reference in 2014. His second book, The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, From the Washingtons to the Obamas, was published on President’s Day 2017. It was a finalist for a 2018 NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction,” and the 2018 Colorado Book Award for History. Adrian’s third book, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue, won the 2022 James Beard Award for Reference, History, and Scholarship and the 2022 Colorado Book Award for History. It was a finalist for the 2022 International Association of Culinary Professionals Literary & Historical Writing Award. His most recent book, Cooking to the President’s Taste: Asian Heritage Chefs in White House History, was published by the White House Historical Association in May 2025. It has since won the bronze medal for General Cookbooks by the Independent Publisher Book Awards, as well as an NYC Big Book Award for International Cookbooks shortly thereafter.

Cost: $20 Members: $10 (use promo code “member” at checkout) EBT and Tribal Members: $10 (use promo code “ebt” at checkout)