Meet the Chicago Chef Inspiring a New Generation of Black Entrepreneurs

We think of chefs as having an impact on food — a particular flavor combination, an eye-catching plating style, a clever cooking technique. Their influence may also emerge in the cooks who trained in their kitchens. But while every bite of Erick Williams’ cornbread and gumbo is memorable, and chefs like Damarr Brown, Ryan Bartlow, and Dave Beran regularly cite the power of his mentorship, there’s much more to his story.

Williams’ greatest legacy as a chef and business owner may be his latest project: helping restore Bronzeville, a long-neglected community on the South Side of Chicago near his three restaurants, Virtue Restaurant & Bar, Mustard Seed Kitchen, and Daisy’s Po-Boy & Tavern, and a Mexican bar and restaurant he plans to open later this year. Bronzeville, which boomed after the Great Migration in 1920, was once a cultural and business hub of Chicago. Black authors and musicians including Richard Wright, Louis Armstrong, and Gwendolyn Brooks called it home. But in the 1950s, segregation laws caused the population and economic viability to decline.

When Williams opened Virtue in 2018, the restaurant’s location — miles south of the city’s business center and restaurant districts — was intentional. He wanted to draw diners to a predominantly Black neighborhood, from which he also hired cooks and servers. There, he cemented his national reputation with a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes. The restaurant’s name reveals his purpose. “Virtue,” Williams has said, “means maintaining a high moral standard and treating people with kindness and hospitality.” During the pandemic, he crowdfunded to pay his employees and then sent meals to essential workers at area hospitals. Now, he’s using his connections and efforts to help Bronzeville make a comeback. 

“What can I do in my life, with my time?” he asks. “Where can I make an impact and make change? I have a son; I want him to be able to walk down the street and see Black people thrive. Restaurants have a shelf life. It’s hard to have equity if you don’t have a stake in the community. So, I choose to build.”

Williams and his team of investors are developing housing and retail spaces in the area; their first project will have 30 condominiums and five retail spaces they hope to fill with Black-owned businesses. 

“I don’t know if I can spend any more days in my life advocating on behalf of the sustainability of animals and land but ignoring the fact that there are humans who are living in a way that is not sustainable,” he says. “Chefs are looked at as leaders. Think of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that chefs have donated and fundraised to causes with their time and resources. My goal is to channel those resources into war-stricken communities. Bronzeville happens to be one of those places.” 

To further that work, Williams created the Virtue Leadership Development Program, designed to help young people of color learn how to build value-driven entrepreneurial projects through training at Virtue. “Restaurants give people the opportunity for interactions with attorneys, bankers, and community leaders. I am a product of this learning experience, and I have every intention of doing the same for others. I want people who go through our program to look at a vacant lot, see that it’s an opportunity, maybe know someone who can help turn things around. My goal is to build a team that is informed, inspired, and can advocate for change.