Adrian Miller | |
|---|---|
 Miller at the 2014National Book Festival in Washington, DC | |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Smoky Hill High School Stanford University Georgetown University Law School |
| Occupation(s) | Culinary historian, policy advisor |
| Notable work | Soul Food The President's Kitchen Cabinet |
| Awards | James Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference and Scholarship |
| Website | adrianemiller |
Adrian Miller is an American culinary historian, lawyer and public policy advisor. His books have twice won theJames Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference and Scholarship:Soul Food in 2014 andBlack Smoke in 2022. He is also the author ofThe President's Kitchen Cabinet, which was nominated for a 2018NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction. He also served as a White House advisor to U.S. presidentBill Clinton.
After graduating fromSmoky Hill High School inAurora, Colorado,[1] Miller attendedStanford University,[2] where he was resident counselor toDavid O. Sacks.[3] Miller graduated on April 4, 1991, with a bachelor's degree in international relations.[2] He next attendedGeorgetown University Law School, where he earned aJ.D. in 1995.[4]
Miller served as a special assistant to the president in theClinton Administration and deputy director of thePresident's Initiative for One America.[5] He resigned afterGeorge W. Bush took office and between jobs, Miller took an interest in food writing, inspired byJohn Egerton's bookSouthern Food: At Home, on the Road, in History.[5] The interest developed into a book,Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time, which he published with theUniversity of North Carolina Press in 2013[6] and which won the 2014James Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference and Scholarship.[1] It was also named a non-fiction honor book by theBlack Caucus of the American Library Association.[7]Soul Food combines archival research with Miller's own travels (visiting 150 restaurants in 35 cities)[8] to survey the way the food culture of theSouthern United States has been "reestablished and reinterpreted" as African-Americans moved to other parts of the country, using the lens ofdiaspora to interpret this evolution.[9]
While researching his first book, Miller particularly began collecting historical traces of African-Americans who had staffed theWhite House kitchen. This became the subject of his second book,The President's Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas, published in 2017 (again with the University of North Carolina Press).[5] In the course of research, Miller was able to identify the names of 150 African-Americans who cooked in the White House, though there were many more who remain unnamed.[10] The book earned a nomination for the 2018NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Nonfiction.[11]
Miller is a member of the board of theSouthern Foodways Alliance and a certified barbecue competition judge.[8] His third book, published in 2021, isBlack Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue.Black Smoke traces the history of Black barbecuers, pitmasters, and restaurateurs and their role in barbecue culture. It also includes 22 recipes. It won the 2022James Beard Foundation Award for a book in the category of Reference, History, and Scholarship.[12]
Meanwhile, Miller also served as policy analyst for Colorado governorBill Ritter.[1] He is the executive director for the Colorado Council of Churches.[1]
Miller lives in Denver, Colorado.[1]