TALKING RICE WITH CHEF JJ AT FIELDTRIP

Chef JJ and Michelle Williams in front of FIELDTRIP

Under a neon light that reads “RICE IS CULTURE” at the FIELDTRIP restaurant in Morningside Heights, I chatted with Chef JJ about his lifelong connection to rice and his mission to show the world its unique value. Rice is diverse, versatile, and sadly overlooked, but we’ll get there. With such a lovely conversation, I’d hate to just focus on the facts, so let’s go back to the beginning, both across continents and through time, to the late ‘80s and early ‘90s in Pennsylvania’s Poconos.

Picture yourself on a Sunday evening, surrounded by generations of family in a lively Caribbean kitchen, with salsa and calypso music filling the air. The rich aroma of cooking fills every corner, thanks to Grandma Iris—lovingly called “Bebe” by Chef JJ from the days when he was too young to say “abuela.” Grandma Bebe’s flavorful, crispy-on-the-bottom, fluffy-on-the-top paella with clams and shrimp, her chicken and rice stew, and her rice and peas—all prepared with thoughtfulness, taste-testing, and patience—are a rice lover’s dream realized. These are moments where people come together over food, but they are so much more—they are memories being made. In this case, it goes beyond that. Grandma Bebe’s grain-filled Sunday dinners ingrained a mission in seven-year-old Chef JJ, a mission to transform how Americans experience rice.

“How you cook your rice is like a mother tongue, passed on from generation to generation, sometimes picking up new expression, sometimes preserving ancestral idioms” 

- Excerpt from Chef JJ’s Cookbook The Simple Art of Rice

“RICE IS CULTURE” Neon Sign inside of FIELDTRIP

When Grandma Bebe passed away, the legacy of her rice lived on in Chef JJ, but he was still a little kid whose skills didn’t quite match his ambitions—spoiler alert—yet. In those middle years, as any child of the 90s remembers well, there were a lot of boxed rice moments. Chef JJ’s mother, deeply passionate about her work as a teacher, used those boxes of rice to nourish her family. “Mom was focused on her career. Dad supported it.” Like many working moms today, she balanced it all—dedicating herself at work and coming home to lovingly cook dishes from her weekly menu, filling her children’s bellies with care. “I still remember her menu. Mondays, roasted chicken. Tuesdays, arroz con pollo. Wednesdays, barbecue chicken.”

“She never lived life like ‘coulda woulda shoulda’. I’d see Mom doing exactly what she wanted. Why should I stop?” 

- Chef JJ

As any child of the ‘90s also remembers, while dinner was lovingly put on the table, that box of rice pilaf was just ok. Rice was a boring side that helped fill the plate and stomachs. It was not a special dish to be experienced. Here’s the math of it all. Once you've tasted something incredible—like Grandma Bebe’s paella—you realize just how amazing rice can be. Compared to that rich memory, an ordinary rice pilaf just feels lackluster. The question becomes, why settle for something mediocre? Chef JJ didn’t. 

Pictured above. CRISPY FISH BOWL with Cornmeal Crusted Market Fish, Cilantro Lime Rice, Wok Veggies, Tartar Sauce, and Pickled Red Onions | SALMON BOWL with Steamed Salmon, Pineapple Black Fried Rice, Wok Veggies, Legendary Piri Piri Sauce, and Scallions | CRAB POCKETS with Blue Crab, Herbed Cream Cheese, and Sweet & Sour Sauce

Even at a young age, Chef JJ’s passion for the culinary arts was evident. It was determination. His family took that seriously and supported his journey toward success. Think of his experience like a child training to become an elite athlete—only with food. There were expensive dining experiences and travel to explore food around the world. One of his most unforgettable trips was at fourteen, when his family stayed in a villa in Jamaica. It was as amazing as it sounds—chefs and butlers catered to them, and freshly baked bread arrived at their door each morning. He explored the island’s food, discovering what he calls “the best flavors of the Caribbean.” But it wasn’t just the food; it was the exceptional hospitality that left a lasting impression. All these elements blended into a deeply immersive experience, the kind that others hope to capture and recreate.

Fast forward past the infamous burnt lasagna Chef JJ made for Aunt Lisa’s birthday at thirteen—a meal he never quite lived down—and through high school, where he faced playful taunts from friends who knew about his cooking passion. “Yeah, man, you’re not good enough to get into CIA. My uncle went there,” they’d tease.

And now, we’ve arrived at the Culinary Institute of America—quite the “in-your-face” moment, right? “Oh, I was the worst,” Chef JJ admits. Studying alongside classmates like Carlton McCoy, he found himself far outside his comfort zone. “I was just learning; everyone else already knew so much … I even failed my first practical.” For this practical, students drew their assignments from a hat, and one of the dishes he ended up with was French Onion Soup—a dish he’d rather forget. In a rush, he accidentally spilled an excessive amount of peppercorns into the soup, panicked, and served it anyway. It was inedible. Fail. What followed were two extra weeks of training to catch up. Seeing where Chef JJ is now, I love getting this glimpse into his journey and seeing it as a reminder of the dedication and resilience it took to get to where he is today.

Hearing about these French culinary methods left me curious about Chef JJ’s experience with rice in culinary school. “We made rice pilaf and fried rice. Rice wasn’t celebrated like pasta.” Sitting there with him, I realized that having little to say on the subject spoke volumes. And so, his journey and mission continued—beyond school and into the kitchen.

From kitchen to kitchen, rice continued to be overlooked. Through Chef JJ’s days at Centro Vinoteca, Jane, Morgan Stanley Executive Dining, Tribeca Grill, The Cecil, Minton’s, and The Henry, rice never got the shine he knew it deserved. It wasn’t until his trip to Ghana with his business partner Alexander Smalls that something clicked. 

“I tried peri peri shrimp on rice, prawns on rice, palm nut soup with turmeric rice. No Matter where I ate, from market counters to high-end-bistros, rice was the staple and the star.”

- Excerpt from Chef JJ’s Cookbook The Simple Art of Rice

During his weeks in Ghana, Chef JJ and Alexander Smalls were driven by a young man named Kingsley—but he was so much more than just a driver. “Kingsley exposed me to so much. Took me out every night, introduced me to his friends…” One night stood out above the rest. Kingsley took them to his family’s home on the east side of Accra, a place his family had lived in and loved for generations. Embraced as part of the family, surrounded by everyone, from nieces to nephews, Chef JJ shared in Kingsley’s mother’s steaming pot of jollof rice. When I asked if this reminded him of Bebe’s Sunday dinners, he took a long pause, then nodded—yes, it did. The aromas, the family gathered around, rice as the centerpiece. So it begs the question, risotto aside, why isn’t rice celebrated in high-end restaurants? It’s versatile, affordable, and grown to high quality right here in the U.S. It just doesn’t make sense.

Upper Left. Morningside Heights FIELDTRIP location. | Upper Right. Chef JJ’s cookbook The Simple Art of Rice.

Amped up after their trip, in 2018 Chef JJ and Alexander Smalls wrote their James Beard award-winning cookbook Between Harlem And Heaven. Five years later, 2023, Chef JJ teamed up with Danica Novgorodoff to bring his love of properly cooked rice to everyone’s home with their cookbook The Simple Art of Rice.

That was the tip of the iceberg. Along the way, in 2019, Chef JJ opened the doors to the first location of his rice-centric fast-casual restaurant FIELDTRIP in Harlem. “I wanted it to be like Momofuku for rice.” Unsurprisingly, the under-appreciated rice ingredient-focused restaurant didn’t receive the goal amount of money in the initial round of funding, leading it to become more of a fast-casual environment than initially planned. But it happened. Chef JJ recognized his lifelong mission to bring rice to the table and make it the star. In fact, it has been recognized three times over with locations in Harlem, Rockefeller Center, and Morningside Heights within New York City, and it is officially opening a new location in Atlantis in the Bahamas. 

Chef JJ and Michelle Williams cooking in the FIELDTRIP kitchen

Always curious and eager to explore, I followed Chef JJ into his kitchen (click here to see us in action in this quick TikTok video). Inside his—as we New Yorkers say, “quaint”—single-burner space, we discussed the challenges of running a fast-casual restaurant, where consistency is key. Returning guests expect their favorites to taste the same every time. At FIELDTRIP, each of the seven bowls on the menu centers around a different type of rice: black rice for China, brown rice for Texas, and so on. The goal? To represent the “voices unheard” through these rice dishes. We discussed the ingredients that bring each bowl to life, and when it came to choosing what to cook together, there was one topping that was featured in every bowl—wok veggies. So, that’s what we made together.

Over a searing-hot wok, we put those culinary school skills to work. We started by blooming garlic in hot oil, adding ginger and red onions, followed by collard greens and cabbage, all finished off with Chef JJ’s secret sauce. These fresh, flavorful wok veggies were then added to a container on the line, ready to top bowls with the same consistency and flavor every time. Flawless.

The wok veggies were just one of many carefully crafted ingredients meant to celebrate the rice they rest upon. Each additional ingredient is thoughtfully chosen to reflect the cultural roots of its rice pairing, supporting it from bowl to globe. Because, as best stated by the illuminating lights above us, “RICE IS CULTURE.”