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Elle Simone Scott, the first Black woman to be a regular host of the hit PBS show America's Test Kitchen, has died. She was 49.
The Detroit-born chef and food stylist died on January 5 from ovarian cancer. She had first been diagnosed with stage 1 ovarian cancer in 2016.
Her death was announced by her friend Chef Carla Hall, who wrote on Facebook: “Chef Elle Simone Scott was a friend, a force, and a trailblazer. She showed up with excellence, generosity, and deep love for food and community.”
Scott was born LaShawnda Sherise Simone Scott on November 28, 1976. She grew up in Detroit and landed her first cooking job at a kosher bakery in Oak Park, Michigan.
After losing her job as a social worker in 2008, she found work as a cruise ship chef. She subsequently studied at the Culinary Institute of New York and interned at the Food Network.
Scott later worked as a food stylist for Cabot Creamery and for the cookery-themed talk showThe Chew. She also worked in a number of different television roles on cooking shows for Cook's Country, Food Network, Bravo, and the Cooking Channel.
In 2013, she founded SheChef, a for-profit mentoring and networking organization for women of color in the culinary world. Scott later commented that she was inspired to start the organization after noting that around 90% of her culinary school classmates were women or people of color, but that this group was largely underrepresented among working chefs.
In 2016, she moved to Boston to start working at America’s Test Kitchen, where she was a test cook and food stylist as well as a developer of video content for the show's online cooking school.
In her tribute to Scott, Chef Hall wrote: “At America’s Test Kitchen, Elle helped open doors that had long been closed—becoming one of the first Black women audiences saw in the test kitchen, and doing so with grace, authority, and joy. She didn’t just test recipes; she changed what representation looked like in food media.
“Her voice mattered. Her work mattered. She mattered.
“Elle faced ovarian cancer with courage and honesty, using her platform to educate, advocate, and uplift even while fighting for her life. That kind of strength leaves a mark.
“We honor you, Elle. Your legacy lives on in every kitchen you inspired and every cook who finally saw themselves reflected back. Rest well my sister.”
