Andrew Black creates memories at Grey Sweater and Black Walnut in Oklahoma City

If you don’t think of Oklahoma City as a prime culinary destination, Andrew Black would suggest that you think again. The chef and owner of Grey Sweater — a tasting menu-only restaurant where Black’s staff interviews guests as they take their reservations to plan out their meals — and the more casual Black Walnut, says he’s not the only restaurateur in the city to flex his culinary muscles for a group of well-heeled and well-traveled customers who, like Black, have come to call this city their home. Originally from Jamaica, Black got his start as a porter at The Boscobel Resort in that country, which eventually arranged for him to study abroad — to the United States where he got a degree in hotel management at Ohio State University. He then worked his way across the Caribbean and Europe and eventually ended up at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn. He moved to Oklahoma City to work on the opening of The Skirvin Hotel in 2007 and has been there ever since. Black recently discussed his restaurants and why he believes in a great gastronomic future for his adopted home.