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Despite his accolades, award-winning restaurants and TV hosting prowess, Marcus Samuelsson is always ready to share the spotlight. Just last year, Samuelsson launched "Subway Series,” a monthly pop-up where up-and-coming BIPOC chefs took over his glittering FiDi restaurant, Metropolis by Marcus Samuelsson, for a night. Since its inception, the kitchen has seen the likes of Chino-Latino cuisine to Caribbean-infused BBQ. This month he is doing it yet again, but this time, the marquee showcases an impressive lineup of female chefs.
For the spring rendition of Subway Series, four stellar female chefs will be popping up at Metropolis, in celebration of Women’s History Month. Each Friday beginning at 5pm, a different chef will take the lead, cooking up a menu that reflects their individual heritage, experience and cookery.
And who better to kick off the series on Friday, March 6, than Fariyal Abdullahi? A finalist for 2024 “Emerging Chef” from the James Beard Foundation and a current 2026 semifinalist for Best Chef: New York, Abdullahi currently runs the kitchen at Samuelsson’s seasonal seafood hall in Chelsea, Hav & Mar, where she incorporates Swedish cuisine with her Ethiopian background.
Following on Friday, March 13, chef Mavis-Jay Sanders will take over. Passionate about food and social justice, Sanders won a James Beard Leadership Award in 2022 for fostering career pathways for formerly incarcerated youth. Continuing the work, last year Sanders served as the culinary director for the pilot program Community Kitchen, a sliding scale fine dining model founded by Mark Bittman.
Post a successful run on season 22 of "Top Chef," Lana Lagomarsini is coming to the kitchen on March 20. The Bronx native has worked at a handful of hard hitters in New York, many of them of the Michelin variety, including Gramercy Tavern, Momofuku Ko and Restaurant Daniel. Learning the ins and outs of live fire cookery from the master himself, Argentinian chef Francis Mallman, Lagomarsini now serves as chef de cuisine at his hotel and restaurant in Uruguay, Restaurante Garzon.
Closing out the month on Friday, March 27, is none other than chef Roshara Sanders, aka chef Ro. A decorated U.S. Army veteran and the first Black female culinary instructor at the Culinary Institute of America, chef Ro has trained with a handful of respected chefs, including Mashama Bailey and the late Ann Burell. And as of last October, chef Ro added chef ambassador to her resume, as she has joined forces at Samuelsson's long-standing Harlem restaurant, Red Rooster Harlem.
Check out the full lineup of chefs below, and peep Metropolis' Instagram for further deets and potential menu drops.
- Friday, March 6: Chef Fariyal Abdullahi, Hav & Mar
- Friday, March 13: Chef Mavis-Jay Sanders, Community Kitchen
- Friday, March 20: Chef Lana Lagomarsini, Restaurante Garzon
- Friday, March 27: Chef Roshara Sanders, Red Rooster Harlem