December 2nd, 2023
At first glance, one would assume she’s a model, or maybe a stylist. Her striking features paired with vibrant tones, blended textures and a smile that lights up the room – there’s no doubt she’s uber creative.
Brittney Williams, affectionately known as Stikxz is a creative through and through. The internationally celebrated young chef from Jamaica is making waves across the globe with her eclectic culinary artistry.
She finds inspiration in the world around her, from her earliest days in the kitchen with her mother and watching her father farm – to experiencing the most exquisitely prepared food across the globe and contemplating how Caribbean food could be similarly presented.
How do you feel at this stage of your life and career?
Brittney: I always have to mention how grateful I am for living something I feel like I have been manifesting for years. God’s been so great in leading me on this journey of self-discovery and culinary prowess – just doing something that I want to do on my terms. That is a blessing.
If you have a gift you’ve got to use it. In the past year, I have levelled up tremendously as a chef, spiritually, emotionally – outwardly toward everyone else.
Caterer, private chef and food stylist – all of those things have come forth in almost 10 years now.
So, I’m in the Hamptons cooking for affluent clients. I’m back in the city shooting with some amazing people in production for TV and film. But I’m also still for the people. You can hit me up to cater any kind of event, we’ll make it work. I’m able to provide that experience. I also host pop-ups for a more elevated take on what Jamaican and Caribbean flavours are, where guests can come to experience a Michelin-star-level menu. I’m a little all over the place, but I’m doing what I love and I’m enjoying the process.
What do you think influenced you to become an outstanding culinary artist?
Brittney: I have to thank my parents. My father is from St Elizabeth and my mother is from Westmoreland. They were farmers and from families who saw food as an integral part of their life experiences. Their way of preparing food is almost primal. My culinary expertise started at home, where I learned everything about Jamaican food.
In retrospect, do you see any breadcrumbs that would have given you some insight into your future as a culinary magician?
Brittney: Growing up I was always in the kitchen with my mother, but she didn’t try to nudge me in any particular direction. But I think she may have had an inkling. I didn’t quite see it, but I always felt most at home and at peace in the kitchen. The kitchen felt like my safe haven. My mother nurtured that – she trained my palette.
Did you study culinary arts?
Brittney shared a story that unfolded during midterms in college;
Brittney: I went to school to study Liberal Arts and Sports Management – a total 180 of what I’m doing now. I remember being in college and during exams a lot of my friends were eating ramen and other things in cups. But from my experience, whenever I had a statewide exam, our mother would make our favourite meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She believes if the body is nourished, so is the mind. So I cooked up a feast for my friends. One of my friends pulled me aside and told me he didn’t think I should have been studying what I was studying. He told me I needed to be doing culinary arts. He felt like that was my calling. And he comes from a family of food.
At that time Brittney was 18, and on her own, she created an entire spread from scratch.
Subconsciously, Brittney planted those words in her heart and mind – and never forgot it.
Brittney wasn’t able to finish her programme, having lost her scholarship. BUT she followed her bliss and decided to explore culinary arts.
Brittney: The moment I put on my first chef coat, everything aligned.
How did you grow from innate talent to becoming a highly-regarded international chef?
Brittney: I have been doing it for a long time. I’ve had my head down, constantly working. I’ve been constantly working, working as much as I could. People have also given me chances and I made the most of them. And I’ve been fortunate to be blessed by word of mouth.
Brittney believes much of her success also has to do with how she treats others.
Brittney:You could be the most technically skilled and experienced person, if your energy isn’t warm toward people, it will be hard to make it.
You’ve been known to alchemize Caribbean cuisine. How do you elevate Jamaican food for guests at the most high-end restaurants in New York City?
Brittney told Designer Island about a dish she conjured at a Michelin Star restaurant in Manhattan, KO BAR.
Brittney: I wanted to do my take on Jamaican street food. One of my favourites is roasted yam and roasted fish. I took techniques from French and Italian cuisine to transform the ingredients used in Jamaican cuisine. I extracted all the flavour from the saltfish into a milk, with coconut milk, butter, thyme, allspice and scotch bonnet – all of which are legit Jamaican flavours. I made it into a foam and sous vide the yams to cook it lightly so it wouldn’t be too dry – to give it that kind of bite that yams can prevail. I then infused it with browned butter, infused with thyme and a little bit of scotch bonnet. The yams and scallops were then placed at the bottom of the bowl, flakes of the saltfish on top with a little bit of caviar for added salt and I put the foam on top of all that. There was a lady from Jamaica who is a chef and she tasted the dish without me explaining it and asked ‘Why do I feel like I’m in St Elizabeth eating roast yam with roast fish?
Brittney was excited for another moment of confirmation that the simplest representations of Jamaican cuisine, that you can get from a stall on the corner of the street, can be elevated. “It brought tears to her eyes because this is our food.”
She said the people who aren’t familiar with the experience Jamaican flavours have to offer are fewer than one would imagine. And those who may not be familiar with flavours from the Caribbean, are nevertheless able to find familiarity through flavours and styles of preparation from other cultures integrated into her culinary creations.
Brittney believes food preparation and food itself are universal languages. “You’ll realise people from different sides of the globe have similar kinds of food, some are prepared in very similar ways.”
How does it feel, having reached a level of success where you’ve cooked for A-list celebrities?
Brittney: Everything still feels so surreal to me. People have come up to be in a resort in Aruba and one did a double take and asked, ‘Are you Stikxz?’ I am still taken by it – and super humble. I’m always going to be me. And I remain as down to earth as possible, because that’s just who I am. I don’t want to float away and get lost in the trappings.
How do you keep yourself grounded? And how does your view of the world impact your ways of staying grounded and appreciating where you are now?
Brittney: I spend a lot of time in nature. Honestly, I could be the best chef on earth, but Mother Earth is the greatest, the most abundant – and reminds me that the world is so much bigger than I am.
I can lend myself to the ecosystem and keep returning the positive energy I receive. Spending time out in the elements is the most grounding thing I can do.
Does your relationship with nature impact your approach to culinary arts?
Brittney: Absolutely. Spending time with my father, who still farms in our yard at home taught me the importance of giving care to food from the point of vegetables being seeds to being on plates. Being a part of the process, of handling food with love and care – I’ve seen how it impacts the energy that ends up on someone’s plate. I try not to mess up the process of ensuring the best quality ingredients are used in preparing meals.
What’s one of your proudest professional moments?
Brittney: At the start of 2023, I was approached by my friend Amber Mayfield, event planner of To BE Hosted Experiences and While Entertaining Media. I was one of her first chefs to do a dinner event some years back, and has since blown up. She reached out to collaborate for the second annual We Gala. This event would mean I’d be in a space with outstanding chefs, media and people who are doing extraordinary things who could help take my career to the next level – they were all my audience. That was probably the first time in my career that I was that nervous about an event. It was for 160 people. As head chef, I was tasked to create an entire menu of what I thought Jamaican food to be and how I’d translate it for this occasion.
This was a moment for me and the people who helped me get here. I ensured the team I had to help me execute were people who have been supporting me through pivotal moments in my career – through different phases of my life as a chef. It was a family affair, especially with my Mother, my godmother and memories in honour of my Grandmother, who passed down so much of her culinary skills to me.
I was proud to get on stage and show people what Jamaican food means to me.
Interviewer: Marshelle Haseley | FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER: KARSTON TANNIS | PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER: Calvin Merritt | ILLUSTRATION BY: Tanya Marie
