Black, White, and the Grey

A story about the trials and triumphs of a Black chef from Queens, New York, and a White media entrepreneur from Staten Island who built a relationship and a restaurant in the Deep South, hoping to bridge biases and get people talking about race, gender, class, and culture.
 
“Black, White, and The Grey blew me away.”—David Chang 

In this dual memoir, Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano take turns telling how they went from tentative business partners to dear friends while turning a dilapidated formerly segregated Greyhound bus station into The Grey, now one of the most celebrated restaurants in the country. Recounting the trying process of building their restaurant business, they examine their most painful and joyous times, revealing how they came to understand their differences, recognize their biases, and continuously challenge themselves and each other to be better.
 
Through it all, Bailey and Morisano display the uncommon vulnerability, humor, and humanity that anchor their relationship, showing how two citizens commit to playing their own small part in advancing equality against a backdrop of racism.

Mashama Bailey, executive chef and partner at The Grey and The Grey Market, was previously the head chef at Gabrielle Hamilton's beloved restaurant Prune and chairs the board of the Edna Lewis Foundation. She has been the subject of stories in USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, Ebony, Bon Appétit, Cherry Bombe, Garden & Gun, and Cosmopolitan; has starred in an episode of Chef's Table; and has won the James Beard Award for Best Chef (Southeast).

John O. Morisano, previously a media startup entrepreneur, is the founding partner at The Grey and The Grey Market. Morisano oversaw the painstaking restoration of the dilapidated Greyhound bus station and directs the business operations. He has helped reshape and expand the mission of the Edna Lewis Foundation and serves as a board member and the treasurer.