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One category features two “Top Chef” alumni competing for Best Chef: Southeast—Bradley and Shanti.

Chef Ashleigh Shanti, along with 12 other “Top Chef” alumni, received coveted recognition from the James Beard Foundation last week.

Shanti’s new cookbook, “Our South: Black Food Through My Lens,” explores Black and Appalachian foodways, highlighting the resilience of the people, the significance of the culture and the ingredients and dishes that connect generations.

In “Our South,” Shanti writes, “Southern Black cooking means more than we’ve come to believe … while hot buttered cast-iron-pan cornbread and crunchy, juicy, lard-fried chicken have their roles to play, they are far from the entire story.”

Russell’s “A Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Recipes for the Kitchen,” published in 1866, served as an inspiration for Shanti.