Salamander Middleburg’s Fifth Annual Family Reunion: Come as Friends, Leave as Family
Written and Photographed by Heidi Baumstark
Come as friends, leave as family. That’s what thousands of people did over the sold-out Family Reunion weekend, held at Middleburg’s Salamander Resort in the middle of Hunt Country. This four-day event, August 14 – 17, 2025, was the five-year anniversary of The Family Reunion, whose mission is to embrace racial and ethnic diversity among hospitality professionals and guests who enjoy the culinary arts and fellowship around the table.
The nation’s leading celebration of culinary excellence, culture, and community, this event continues to make an impact by supporting its philanthropic partner, the Culinary Institute of America, in shaping future generations of talent. This is a space where returning friends and new faces meet, finding inspiration, connection, and joy.
The Family Reunion is presented by Kwame Onwuachi, a James Beard Award-winning chef, restaurateur, and author. He was recently announced in Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025, and joined forces with Sheila Johnson, founder and CEO of the Salamander Collection, to host this year’s reunion. The event drew celebrity chefs, authors, and guests from near and far. Each day featured breakout panel discussions, hands-on cooking demos by chefs and sommeliers, multi-course, family-style lunches and dinners, as well as themed dinners, including a Harlem Renaissance Dinner Friday night.
August 15: Harlem Renaissance Dinner
Dishes at the Harlem Renaissance Dinner were prepared by top chefs and restaurants, including Melba Wilson, JR Robinson, Charles Gabriel & Quie Slobert, Adrienne Cheatham, Georgiana Viou, Shorne Benjamin, Chef Picky, Maya-Camille Broussard, King Street Oyster, and the Salamander pastry team.
Living up to the dinner’s theme, guests decked out in 1920s-style dress. Kelly Elmore flew in from San Diego to see “what the manifestation of a vision looks like,” she said, referring to Sheila Johnson and her vision of The Family Reunion. “I thought if Sheila’s doing it, it will be on a whole different level,” said Elmore, who has participated in her own family reunions in Alabama. Elmore identifies with Johnson’s book, “Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Triumph” (2023), which is sold at Salamander’s gift shop.
When asked why she came, Marilyn Dyson, of Washington, D.C., said, “For the significance of honoring the culture and supporting Sheila. I’m enjoying the great music, food, the culture of coming together.”
Shanna Benjamin of Charlotte, North Carolina, came dressed in a 1920s party dress with tassels, sequins, and a matching flapper headband. “It’s so fun to dress up,” she said. Benjamin teaches African American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem and is working on a book on Black hospitality traditions. “I learned about this reunion during my research and decided to come,” she said. She, too, had read Johnson’s book and wanted to experience Salamander’s home away from home. “Hospitality is a feeling you get — it’s intangible,” Benjamin said. “There are some things you just have to experience, and I wanted to experience this. I just had to do it.”
Johnson stepped onstage with Onwuachi at the dinner, welcoming the crowd and asking, “Aren’t we having so much fun eating and drinking?”
At the dinner was special guest Virginia Ali, founder of Ben’s Chili Bowl in D.C., who added, “We opened on August 22, 1958 — almost exactly 67 years ago to this day.”
August 16: Edna Lewis and the Legacy of a Black Woman Chef
Moderator Cheryl Slocum, of Food & Wine, led a discussion with panelists Dr. Jessica B. Harris, Mashama Bailey, and Carla Hall to explore the life of the late Chef Edna Lewis (1916-2006). A special introduction was presented by Deb Freeman, creator and director of the Emmy Award-winning film series, “Finding Edna Lewis.” Slocum posed the question, “Why didn’t we know about Edna Lewis?”
Lewis was a major contributor to the food industry and author of the book “The Taste of Country Cooking” (1976). She was born in Freetown, Virginia, in Orange County. From Virginia to New York City, Lewis carved a culinary path, introducing the cooking of the Black community in rural Virginia that raised her. Freeman said, “I traveled to the places where Miss Lewis made her mark. I made the film to highlight her legacy and ‘our food’ — which is amazing, delicious, and worthy.”
Harris, an authority on African food, recipient of the James Beard Award, and author, actually met Lewis years ago. “I kind of stumbled into food,” she said. “The foundation for my interest in cooking was connecting with people over food. Your history is on your plate.” She later referenced an old Baptist song, “A Charge to Keep Have I,” stating that we all have a responsibility. “Know that you have a charge,” she said. “Find out what that charge is and accept it.”
Mashama Bailey is the winner of two James Beard Awards. She owns The Grey Restaurant in Savannah, Georgia; her newest restaurant is in Paris, France. Carla Hall is a celebrity on television cooking shows “Top Chef” and “The Chew” and the creator of several cookbooks. She explained that before Lewis’ book was titled “The Taste of Country Cooking,” it was first called “Freetown Country Cooking.” “Edna did what she knew how to do: communicate through food. What motivates me about cooking is building community,” Hall said.
To honor Lewis’ legacy — referred to by many as the “Grand Dame of Southern Cooking” — Orange County launched the Edna Lewis Menu Trail, a collection of eight restaurants that celebrate her signature dishes. There’s also a Virginia Department of Historic Resources historical marker titled “Edna Lewis (1916-2006)” that was unveiled near her birthplace in Freetown on April 13, 2024, which would have been her 108th birthday. Freetown was founded by formerly enslaved people, including Lewis’ paternal grandfather, Chester Lewis. Part of the marker’s inscription includes that in 1949, she became the chef and partner of New York’s Cafe Nicholson. She later cooked in other elite restaurants, where Black female chefs were rare. Generating national interest in Southern cuisine, she received an honorary doctorate from Johnson & Wales University, and in 2014, she was depicted on a U.S. postage stamp. Lewis is buried in a family plot near her birthplace.
August 16: Family-Style Lunch
Shira Reese, of D.C., said, “I frequent Salamander and heard about this event; I told my friends, and we came. I just had my own family reunion back in Cincinnati.” She added, “Although we don’t know everyone here, it feels like family — there’s such a connection.”
Reese’s friend, Aaron Tucker, who lives in Los Angeles and is a stylist and costume designer, added, “I cook as well and wanted to come for the eating and the simplicity of connecting with others.”
Origins of Black Family Reunions
The tradition of Black family reunions goes back to Civil War days, when families were often torn apart and loved ones were forcibly separated. After the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, people sought out family members by placing ads in newspapers or simply asking those who worked on nearby plantations. For those able to reconnect, these reunions were important gatherings and would become a welcome celebration of family and resilience, creating community and memories around the table. Reunions were typically held in August, and over 160 years later, they remain a meaningful tradition among Black families.
“Come as friends, leave as family” is the mantra for this event, which perfectly sums up the sentiment and aura of this annual reunion at Salamander. As Harris said, “My fear is what will happen if we stop keeping our charge. This issue of legacy means opening the door, making a path. The thing about legacy is — just be kind. Then we’ve got community. The power of community.” ML
For more information on Salamander’s Family Reunion, visit salamanderhotels.com/familyreunion/about.
Posted on: August 26, 2025