Food and Wine | January 4, 2022

Dubai's Alkebulan Dining Hall features 11 regional restaurants — and plans are underway to bring the concept to more cities around the globe.

"As a kid, I was told if I loved what I did, I'd never have a job," acclaimed chef, James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, and entrepreneur Alexander Smalls told Food & Wine recently. "I've never had a job. I've been able to create work for myself by following my passion and understanding the mission of my passion. And this is how we got here, if you will."

The "here" he's referring to is the grand opening of Alkebulan, the first dining hall in the world that showcases and celebrates African food. It opened in Dubai last fall as part of the pandemic-delayed Expo Dubai 2020, and it's also the realization of a vision that Smalls has focused on for well over a decade. "I've had five restaurants, starting with The Cecil in Harlem, all of which have been about the food of the African diaspora," he explained. "About six or seven years ago, I set out to create a destination that would tell the story of African food on five continents [and tell] how through slavery, Africans changed the global culinary conversation."

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Forbes | January 4, 2022

Only days into the new year, two major cities are slated to get even more delicious.

Harlem-based Chef Alexander Small, the James Beard award-winning visionary of The Cecil and its sister restaurant Minton's, is opening the world's first African food hall, Alkebulan.

Small, a former opera singer turned culinary activist, debuted the concept at Expo 2020 Dubai in October 2021. Following an extremely positive global reception, Alkebulan will remain permanent in Dubai, with expansions in both Harlem and London.

Alkebulan, which is the oldest name for Africa, is envisioned as a cultural and culinary movement that celebrates the untapped cuisine of the African continent. Smalls curated the Alkebulan location in Dubai to offer elevent African chef-led concepts showcasing the diverse cuisines that Africa has to offer, from gourmet dishes and street bites to fusion fare. Local art and live music also amps up the cultural immersion at the food hall.

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Glamour | January 2, 2021

This will be a year of spectacular books. The best books of 2022—that is, the most anticipated new book releases of the year ahead—are stunners. There are nonfiction books and novels about cults, female friendships, family ties, and future civilizations. Books that will make you laugh until the mascara drips down your face. Chilling thrillers and thrilling memoirs. Romantic books that will have you downloading dating apps again. There'’s no reason to ask, “What book should I read?” for a full year.

An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World by Patrisse Cullors (January 25)

Any decent non-Black person who thinks about about American slavery imagines—hopes—insists to themselves—that they would have been on the side of the abolitionists. Contemporary abolition usually refers to abolishing the legalized slavery of the prison system, and sometimes to abolishing the police. If that sounds like going too far, it could be time to read up on why many of the great activists of our day are abolitionists. If we’re serious about real change, and not just Black squares, we’re going to need a handbook. Patrisse Cullors, one of the original cofounders of the Black Lives Matter movement, teaches how to build an activism practice from a place of compassion and love.

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