Cheetie Kumar

She/her/hers

Years of Participation

2022-2023

Cheetie is an India and Bronx-raised Southerner, musician, and chef. She has been cooking multi-cultural menus at her beloved Raleigh, NC restaurant, Garland, where she blends flavors of South Asia and the surrounding regions, with the bounty of the local North Carolina agriculture. Cheetie’s cooking is refined and thoughtful, filled with equal parts imagination and rebellion. It is unassumingly delicious and filled with soul. She is a five-time James Beard Awards Semifinalist and was a Nominated Finalist for “Best Chef: Southeast” in 2020 and 2022. She is an active industry advocate and serves on the board of the Independent Restaurant Coalition and the Southern Foodways Alliance.