MoAD and The St. Regis Hotel San Francisco Present

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The Diaspora Dinner is an immersive dining experience that celebrates the ingredients, cooking techniques, and flavor profiles of the African diaspora. This year, MoAD Chef-in-Residence Jocelyn Jackson has invited Toni Tipton-Martin to join her as we honor the iconic contributions she has made to the canon of African foodways.

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The evening will be filled with melodic music, delicious drinks, exquisite food, and inspiring conversation that reflect Tipton-Martin's culinary scholarship and impact on culinary writers and chefs around the globe. The elegant dinner will be hosted at The St. Regis San Francisco, a Forbes Five-Star luxury hotel, renowned for its gracious and bespoke services.

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‍General Admission tickets include access to welcome reception, dinner, conversation, and entertainment for one guest. MoAD Members receive a $25 discount on general admission tickets. Please contact programs@moadsf.org to receive your discount code.

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EARLY BIRD PRICING - the first 50 General Admission tickets sold receive a $50 discount! Buy your tickets today and save before they become full price!

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VIP tickets provide access all event activities plus a VIP reception and champagne toast with Dr. Toni Tipton-Martin, a special gift, and complimentary valet parking at the St. Regis.‍

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We will begin the evening in the foyer of the Gallery Ballroom at the St. Regis Hotel with a wine reception, live music, and passed hors d’oeuvres. The guests will then make their way into the beautifully appointed ballroom for a formal multi-course dinner co-curated by our Chef-in-Residence and Toni Tipton-Martin, which will include many of Tipton-Martin's very own recipes. An interactive conversation moderated by Chef-in-Residence Jackson will span the impact of Toni Tipton-Martin's decorated career in food journalism, James Beard award-winning cookbook author, and champion of African and Southern foodways.

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We look forward to each guest feeling transported and uplifted by the Diaspora Dinner experience.‍‍

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Toni Tipton-Martin is a three-time James Beard Award winning author, Editor in Chief of Cook’s Country magazine by America’s Test Kitchen, a cast member of its PBS television show, and founder of a nonprofit organization using cultural heritage and cooking to build community. She is the recipient of the prestigious Julia Child Award, an honor given to an individual (or team) who has made a profound and significant difference in the way America cooks, eats and drinks and the International Association of Culinary Professionals Trailblazer Award. Her celebrated books are: Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs & Juice: Cocktails From Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks, Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking, and The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks. In 2024, Toni recently shepherded, When Southern Women Cook: History, Lore, and 300 Recipes with Contributions from 70 Women Writers, a first-of-its-kind cookbook for America’s Test Kitchen.

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Jocelyn Jackson is an award-winning chef, artist, teacher, and activist who was raised on the Kansas plains by a Tuskegee Airman and the first Black woman to run for mayor in Wichita. Her family tradition of social justice led her to pursue a law degree after completing her BA in Fine Arts. After practicing law for six years in DC, she spent two years in Mali and across West Africa as a Natural Resource Volunteer and returned to the states to finish her formal education with a MS in Environmental Education. Once she landed in the Bay Area, her lifelong devotion to healing food experiences became the vessel for her cultural entrepreneurship and activism. Jocelyn has been a professional cook for over 12 years. She spoke on the principles of community nourishment at Court Bouillon in Southern France, and was part of the team that presented the inaugural Diaspora Dinner at MoAD. She is the founder of JUSTUS Kitchen and the co-founder of People’s Kitchen Collective (PKC). Both organizations serve to center the lived experience and liberation of Black and brown peoples using food, art, and social justice as vehicles for change.  

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Jocelyn has received several honors as an artist and chef over the years. She was named Rising Star Chef alongside PKC by the SF Chronicle, received the Rainin Open Spaces and Fellows Grant, Creative Capital Award, Ruth Foundation for the Arts Grant, and Headlands Center for the Arts Residency. In 2021 she was selected for Ava DuVernay’s LEAP Foundation Grant to create a culinary arts based installation that reflected the story of Philando Castille. Jocelyn has published writing on the topics of food and justice in Eater, Epicurious, The Kitchn, Feed the Resistance by Julia Turshen, and Black Food by Bryant Terry.

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Diaspora Dinner 2024 Gallery

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