Rougui Dia | |
---|---|
Born | 1976 (age 47–48) France |
Education | École Hôtelière Villepinte |
Occupation(s) | Chef, bakery owner, author |
Rougui Dia (born 1976) is a French chef, who is internationally renowned. She is the first Black woman to be the executive chef at a Michelin-star restaurant. She is known as the “New Black Pearl of Paris,” comparing her to Josephine Baker, and the “African Queen of Parisian Cuisine".[1]
Dia was born in France to Muslim Senegalese immigrants. She and six siblings grew up in Neuilly-Plaisance. She began cooking African-inspired dishes for her family at around thirteen years old.[1]
Dia enrolled in vocational and catering classes at the École Hôtelière Villepinte. She graduated with her certificat d'aptitude professionnelle in 1996.[2] She continued studying there until 1999, when she received her practitioner's certification.[1] She was unemployed for about two years due to racism in the industry, finally getting a job at Chez Jean, where she met Sébastien Faré.[2]
A mentor recommended that Dia at the restaurant Le Louvre Chef under Faré, where she rose from clerk to sous-chef. In 2000, she began working at Le Petrossian 144 under Chef Phillipe Conticini, where she began as vegetable cook and again rose to sous-chef. In 2005, she was promoted to head-chef, to "media frenzy."[2] In this position, she was the first Black woman to lead a Michelin-starred restaurant.[3][4][5] While there, she incorporated Senegalese, Indian, and Caribbean cuisine into the menu.[1]
In 2006, Dia published an autobiography, Le Chef est une Femme (The Chef is a Woman).[1]
In 2013, Dia moved to Le Vraymonde at the Buddha-Bar Hotel Paris, a restaurant known for its Asian dishes, as their executive chef.[1] Three years later, she opened a pastry shop, Un Amour de Baba, specializing in rum babas. In 2019, Rougui moved to Denver, where her sister lives, where they opened bakery and high-end bistro Le French, where she is the executive chef.[6][7]