Dame Emme Ribeiro Collins
Entrepreneur, restaurateur, innovator, and culinary organizer. A master of cachaça cocktails and feijoada, the meaty black bean stew starring as Brazil’s national dish. All describe Seattle Dame Chef Emme Ribeiro Collins and indicate a skillful blending of her cultural background and experiences in the restaurant world. The result: a standout career as chef and caterer. Her newest position as District Executive Chef for the Seattle School District—a first for the district—began in September 2019 and distinguishes her culinary standing even further.
Emme’s Brazilian heritage and working in Tempero do Brasil, the restaurant her parents opened in 1999 in the University District, noted as Seattle’s first Brazilian restaurant, was a natural path into the culinary world. Arriving in Seattle as a six-year-old, she grew up in the family restaurant, working front and back of the house with her brother, and later, in other area restaurants, from burger joints to fine dining establishments. In 2010, she participated in MasterChef on the Fox Network. Although not a winner, Gordon Ramsey’s encouragement propelled her to enroll at the Seattle Culinary Academy. Graduating in 2012 as “Outstanding Culinarian,” a distinction awarded by the program’s chef instructors, she next headed to Washington, DC, for an organic internship under Chef Nora Pouillon at Restaurant Nora, often labeled the first certified organic restaurant in the U.S.
Returning to Seattle in 2013, she worked as a private chef (How about clients such as Eddie Vedder and Jamal Crawford?) and launched her boutique catering company, Chef Emme Catering Co.. The kitchen at Tempero do Brasil did double-duty for her catering business. When her parents decided to close their restaurant in 2017, it proved the perfect opportunity to open her own restaurant: Alcove Dining Room (now closed). With a prix fixe menu and community seating, her restaurant menu blended dishes and flavors of Emme’s Afro-Brazilian roots and Pacific Northwest ingredients.
Emme has also earned media credits as a chef/restaurateur. She’s appeared on TV programs for King 5, Fox Channel 13, and the Food Network, been featured in Seattle Magazine and The New York Times articles, and participated in Cherry Bombe podcasts.
Now it’s on to the challenges of her new role as Executive Chef for the Seattle Public Schools. Top requirements: making lunches more nutritious and culturally diverse within existing nutritional guidelines and redesigning dishes to feature more local ingredients and fewer processed foods. Changes began this past school year in elementary schools and will expand to higher grades. Updating menus in pandemic times, when many school children are still dependent on school lunches even while learning remotely, is a tall order. Chef Emme is excited and more than ready for the test.