Owner and chef, Mary's African Cuisine, Seaport Farmers' Market, 1209 Marginal Road and Noblemay Catering
Mary Nkrumah has been cooking for over 15 years— taking notes from her mother, a caterer, and then studying culinary at home in Ghana—but for the last seven she's made a name for herself and her dishes in Halifax. After working her way through the kitchens of Aramark, Cora, Ryan Duffy's and the Italian Market, she branched out with her own with her stall at the Seaport Farmers' Market, Mary's African Cuisine, her home-run catering business, Noblemay Catering and recently the family space Kicks Cafe, at the Soccer Nova Scotia Training Centre.
"I am the kind of person who likes doing my own thing, I believe in self-employment" says Nkrumah. "Working at all of those places made me feel like, I have so much in me and having my own place I could bring it out." She credits Nova Scotians, specifically the African community, for motivating her by embracing her food. "I'm just so happy that me being in the kitchen is my world."