Melba Wilson is a

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

-based restaurateur (Melba's), caterer, cookbook author and a

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

personality. Wilson has been called both the queen of soul food and comfort food.

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

appointed Wilson to the COVID-19 Small Business Advisory Council and she is president of the board of directors for The NYC Hospitality Alliance.

Biography

Wilson is the niece of Sylvia Woods, the founder of

Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem, often called Sylvia's Soul Food or just Sylvia's, is a soul food restaurant located at 328 Malcolm X Boulevard, between 126th and 127th Streets, in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1962 by Sylvia Woods, ...

. She was hired to organize the restaurant's 25th anniversary celebration in 1987. Wilson is credited with starting their popular Sunday gospel brunch. She went on to work at

Windows on the World Windows on the World was a complex of dining, meeting, and entertainment venues on the top floors (106th and 107th) of the North Tower (Building One) of the original World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. ...

and Rosa Mexicano before opening Melba's in 2005.

TV appearances

As well as appearing on the Food Network shows ''

Beat Bobby Flay ''Beat Bobby Flay'' is an American cooking competition show on the Food Network. It features various chefs competing against Bobby Flay. The show is taped in front of a live audience. Format In the first round, two guests, often a celebrity ...

'', ''

Worst Cooks in America ''Worst Cooks in America'' is an American reality television series that premiered on January3, 2010, on Food Network. The show takes 12 to 16 contestants (referred to as "recruits") with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp, t ...

'', and '' Throwdown! with Bobby Flay'' (the latter in which her chicken and waffles dish beat Flay's in season 4), Wilson has appeared on shows such as ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' and ''

The View ''The View'' is an American talk show created by broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. , in its 28th season, the show has aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC as part of the network's ABC Daytime, daytime programming block since August ...

''.

Publications

*''Melba's American Comfort: 100 Recipes From My Heart to Your Kitchen'' (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Melba Living people 20th-century births People from Harlem 21st-century African-American people American chefs African-American non-fiction writers American women restaurateurs American restaurateurs American cookbook writers Restaurant founders Year of birth missing (living people) American women chefs American women founders American founders Writers from Manhattan