After building an illustrious career cooking different cuisines, Gregory Gourdet is exploring his heritage. “Cooking Haitian food feels really comfortable to me because it is so embedded in me as a person, in my memory, and in my soul,” says Gourdet. The four-time James Beard-nominated chef didn’t start cooking until his 20s while attending college, but went on to learn French cuisine in the high-profile kitchen of Jean-Georges and explore pan-Asian cuisine during his decade-long tenure at downtown’s rooftop dining destination, Departure. Celebrating Haiti’s culturally rich cuisine within a changing industry In December 2020, the chef opened the first iteration—Winter Village—of his highly anticipated first solo restaurant, Kann, as part of a nationwide partnership with American Express and Resy. The COVID conscious pop-up resides in the parking lot of the Redd wherein diners are served four course (seven dishes total) meals in private yurts. The limited engagement project serves as a preview and test run for the brick and mortar restaurant that Gourdet plans to open post-pandemic. As a deeply personal project, Chef Gourdet chose to spotlight the Haitian cuisine he grew up with.