Chef Gabi Odebode - Culinary Center Instructor

Chef Gabi Odebode is a scientist turned Chef and a foodpreneur. Born and raised in West Africa Ghana, Gabi ate and learned from amazing cooks such as her grandma, mother, and aunts. At the age of 9 she immigrated to the United States where she lived in Maryland. In high school, she registered for a food and nutrition class, where she watched several cooking shows by a woman named Rachael Ray. This is when something clicked for Gabi. She started to cook more often at home and experimented with spices and herbs and learn to cook other meals aside from her cultural cuisines. She later registered for an international cuisine class. Gabi climbed the educational ladder and graduated with a master’s degree in biology. During her master’s program, she started her side hustle where she catered food, created products, and taught people in her community to cook certain West African foods. This side hustle became her main hustle (Afromeals) when she moved to Ohio. In Ohio, she learned, and was mentored by CIA trained chefs. Gabi released her first recipe book and started teaching at different cooking schools in the Cincinnati-Dayton area. Her goal was to educate people about African (West African) cuisine. She later opened her own cooking school (Afromeals Cooking School) in downtown Cincinnati where she teaches and has taught many people about African cuisine. Along with teaching, Gabi also share her cultural food with people by developing recipes for FoodNetwork.com. Currently, Chef Gabi is known as one of the pioneers in the Cincinnati/Dayton area in Ohio introducing people to African cuisine and culture. This is how she coined her business tagline “Experience the Culture”. She has been featured in Cincinnati Magazine and news and other local, national, and international publications.