Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, executive chef Quanta Robinson at Black’s Bar & Kitchen in Bethesda portrays the quintessential low-key boss, surely unflappable in the face of any kitchen dilemma. Considering she just turned 31, that says a lot for a young woman who has worked her way from grill cook to the top in a very competitive field.
A Prince George’s County native, Robinson attended Laurel High School before heading to the Culinary Arts Program offered at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Upon returning to the metro area, Robinson was hired by another local restaurant group before she heard about the opening at the Black Restaurant Group: a position in the new restaurant, BlackSalt. Applying for, and getting, the job, as a line cook to work under executive chef Jeff Black, Robinson found herself on an inner track in her culinary career.
It’s a fitting job path for her: Robinson said she had always dreamed of becoming a chef, even as a little girl.
“Cooking was a big deal for me,” she said. “My sister and me always helped out, but my sister can’t cook. I was always into watching cooking shows, like Julia Child, ‘Yan Can Cook’ and ‘The Frugal Gourmet.’ I couldn’t not watch them.”
Although she said the only cookbooks she read were the Betty Crocker books her mom owned, Robinson became inspired to turn her childhood cooking interest into a lifelong passion. For one thing, she said, taking simple ingredients and turning the into an appealing meal intrigued her.
“That always amazed me,” she said. “I decided I wanted to do that and to learn more about what else one can do with food.”
Even in high school, she said, her yearbook quotes read, “I want to be a chef. I love food, and I want to cook forever.”
Well on her way to claiming an established role in the culinary field, Robinson describes her cooking style as “homey,” with the goal of making people feel satisfied even if the plate is not empty.
“I want my cooking to touch people,” she said. “The newer styles of cooking, there’s kind of a disconnect. I don’t want to feel full after every meal, but I also don’t want to feel impressed by talent. … That’s doing a guest a disservice.”
Robinson conceded her approach to cooking has evolved over time, and that it can change annually.
“I felt like when I was first a cook, I was just motivated to learn and to earn,” she said. “But when I got higher up the ladder, I now approach every dish with this thought: What would I think if someone put this in front of me?”
She also readily acknowledged she has not reached the point in her career when she can claim a signature dish.
“Once the dish is gone, it’s gone,” she said. “I move on to the next.”
And what about her noncooking sister these days?
Well, Robinson said, she grew up to be a lawyer, but she has become more of a foodie now that her sister Quanta is a chef.
