When Gladys Knight comes to town, you better serve her up some soul food.
Chef Nickey Alexander intends to do just that, after wowing Boys and Girls Club staff with some incredible fare Monday.
The Boys and Girls Club of Dane County (BGCDC) are hosting An Evening with Gladys Knight on Saturday, July 16, at Overture Center, followed by the annual All White Party with musical guest Dru Hill. Madison365 is proud to be a media partner of the event. Tickets are still available.
Alexander, who goes by the well-earned nickname Celebrity Chef Nickey, was visiting Madison, where she once lived and where several of her adult children still live, last week. She was bringing her grandchildren back from a visit to her home in Springfield, Illinois, where she owns and operated Nickey’s Southern Style Kitchen.
While here, she got a notification that she’d been tagged in a social media post – the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County was seeking a chef to cater for the celebrities who’ll be entertaining at its major fundraiser this weekend, including Gladys Knight, Dru Hill, After 7 and more.
In an interview with Madison365, Alexander said she knew she had to go for it. She found the address of the BGCDC office on Google and stopped in, speaking with Chief Operating Officer Laura Ford Harris and arranging a tasting for Monday.
“I said if you’re basing it off the tasting, you might have to get your pen ready because it’s done after the tasting,” Alexander said.
She was right – BGCDC CEO Michael Johnson posted on Facebook that nine staffers who tasted her food were blown away.
“He tried it. He said, ‘Man, you are the truth. This is beyond amazing. I’ve never had red beans and rice taste like this,’” Alexander recalled.
Gladys and the other musicians, as well as other local VIPs, will enjoy baked chicken legs, greens, smoked turkey, homemade macaroni and cheese, candied yams, grilled salmon, fried catfish, barbecue rib tips, red beans and rice smothered shrimp in creamy grits, peach cobbler and “my infamous cornbread.”
If that all sounds good, you might be able to try it sometime soon – Alexander is moving her restaurant to Los Angeles to be closer to her eldest son, “How to Get Away With Murder” actor Rome Flynn, but also looking to open a Wisconsin location soon.
Alexander has built a reputation as a celebrity chef over the course of a long culinary career.
“I guess if you count my kids, I’ve been a chef for over 30 years,” she said. “But cooking for other people, 20-plus years.” Some of those “other people” have included Viola Davis, Nicole Wallace, Trina the Rockstar, Kevin Campbell and many more.
It’s not all about the red carpet, though – Alexander said she has also fed the homeless in Springfield and elsewhere, and is happy to cook for whoever appreciates good southern-style cooking.
“Whoever wants to try my amazing food is alright with me,” she said.
Tickets for the Gladys Knight concert featuring After 7 and the All White Party featuring Dru Hill and many celebrity guests are still available.
