LA native Jake Smollett is a chef, builder, TV host, and cookbook author. Working in the entertainment business for over three decades Jake began his career in New York City modeling at just 3 months old. The very next year, he landed acting roles in ABC’s Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, and On Our Own, a sitcom featuring him alongside his five real-life siblings.
Jake later landed numerous film and television roles, including one in the critically acclaimed feature film, Eve’s Bayou, where he acted alongside Hollywood heavy-hitters, Samuel L. Jackson and Lynn Whitfield. As a teenager, Jake decided to fuse his love for being in front of the camera with his love for food, making the decision to start recipe developing, hosting, and producing his own cooking shows.
Ever since he hit the food scene, Jake has become known for creating unique dining experiences throughout New York, Houston, New Orleans, and Los Angeles for an impressive list of clienteles. Bringing New Orleans cuisine wherever he goes. Jake has partnered with major companies on wildly successful pop-ups and events such as Jon and Vinny, the Singapore Tourism Board, and The Recording Academy. Jake has demoed his recipes on Sherri, The Today Show, Good Morning America and Rachael Ray, where he was a featured resident chef for two seasons.
Jake currently co-hosts and executive produces Living By Design with his sister, Jazz, currently in Season 3. In the show, Jake gets to show off his culinary and furniture design, and construction skills, both of which has helped propel them to the number 1 spot on CLEO TV, a new millennial cable network.
In 2018 Jake became a bestselling author with the Harper Collins release of his cookbook, The Family Table: Recipes & Moments from a Nomadic Life co-authored by his three siblings. He currently resides in Los Angeles, where he has for over 30 years.
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Before actors and Food Network stars Jazz, Jake, Jurnee, and Jussie Smollett conquered Hollywood, they spent their childhood crisscrossing the United States. Moving coast to coast thirteen times, they car-tripped to small towns and big cities across America.
But no matter where they lived, two things remained constant: their incredible family feasts and the long, wooden kitchen table where they shared food and lived their lives. Each time they arrived in a new home, their mother would transform planks of hard wood into a smooth, varnished butcher block table in a beloved ritual that took three days.
That hand-crafted table would become the heart of the Smollett clan, where the most important and cherished events and accomplishments, no matter how large or small, were honored, and where holidays were celebrated: Christmas, Easter, Passover, Chanukah, birthdays, milestones. With a mother from New Orleans and a Jewish father from New York who met and married in California, the Smollett kids were exposed to diverse culinary heritages and grew up open to all the deliciousness the world had to offer.
In this warm and personal book, the Smolletts invite us all to take a seat at their table and enjoy the good times and good food that help families thrive. The Family Table includes more than 130 delicious, comforting recipes that pay tribute to their past and present, including:
- Crispy Beef Lettuce Wraps
- Potato Crab Au Gratin
- Brown Butter Lamb Chops
- Honey Sriracha Chicken Skewers
- 7th Ward Gumbo
- North African Chicken Stew
- Cast-Iron Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
These favorite recipes from the Smolletts are suitable for intimate dinners and fabulous feasts alike, but more than that, The Family Table is a remarkable portrait of a loving, all-American family, rich with traditions that they continue to build to this day.