Chef Adam and his wife, Maggie, own three restaurants in Elkhart and hope to open more in the future.
We are so excited to have them involved at The Countryside Kitchen at American Countryside!

Here is his story:

Chef Adam Williams was born Nov. 27, 1973 in Shelby, Mississippi. Adam grew up in extreme poverty. Although surrounded by drugs, alcoholism, and violence he was shown much love. His mother, Dorothy, and father, Johnny have six children. Adam is the fourth born. Adam's father, Johnny, worked as a share cropper.

Adam's mother, Dorothy, noticed that at an early age Adam showed an early interest in food and cooking. He was always happiest when he was in the kitchen with his mother. He would watch her attentively, and if he would start to fuss his mother could only calm him by giving him a bowl of flour - which he would happily play with.

Chef Adam attended culinary school in Biloxi, MS. Graduating at the top of his class he earned a spot reserved for the top five graduates to a 9 month internship in Europe where he broadened his culinary skills internationally.

Chef Adam moved to Elkhart, IN where he landed a job opening stores and teaching employees how to make pizza dough for Little Caesar's Pizza chain.

Chef Adam kept his dream of someday owning his own restaruant and to help him reach that goal, he decided to go into the construction business. He became a brick tender for Lantz Masonry out of Goshen, IN. He worked his way up from a mason tender to a brick and stone mason over a 1 year time period. He continued to work for Lantz Masonry for another 4 years picking up other valuable construction skills like framing, painting, plumbing, etc. He later used these skills to start construction on his first restaurant Unique Blend on Bower Street in Elkhart, IN.

Unique Blend features a smoked magnolia sausage sandwich that is served nowhere else in the world. It took Adam, along with his wife and sister-in-law a total of 5 months to transform an old neighborhood barber shop into a restaurant. In order for the ex-barber shop to function as a restaurant it had to have new lighting, new floors, new walls, another bathroom installed and a kitchen. After 5 months of 18 hour days full of work, Unique Blend was ready to open on July 24, 2006. The menu is Cajun, southern and home style foods and it quickly established a loyal following. Elkhart Turth columnist and food critic, Marshall King "Dining a la King" wrote an article on Unique Blend. The title is "Try Unique Blend Foods & Crafts for Old Fashioned Goodness."

Unique Blend was such a success that Chef Adam decided to open a second restaurant, Adam's Bistro, on Beardsley Avenue in Elkhart, IN. Adam's Bistro features a different menu from Unique Blend which focuses on healthy eating. Chef Adam serves wraps, specialty salads (Lion Iverson, Brazilian & more) homemade soups of his own creation, a Chiducken sandwich (a combination of smoked Culver duck and chicken), and more! Again Marshal King wrote a wonderful article titled "Adam's Bistro Has Soup and Salads Like No Other."

Chef Adam created a cooking class at the YMCA in Elkhart where he teaches underprivileged children cooking safety, eating healthy, career and personal motivation. The children prepare enough food to serve the whole group of 25 - 40. Other community involvements include Habitat for Humanity, Faith Mission, Officer Appreciation Day, and Military Dream Wedding Day.

On May 2, 2008, Chef Adam, his wife of 13 years, Maggie, and their 4 children became victims of a hate crime. A 5 1/2 foot cross was burned in the front of their Elkhart home. Adam and his family dealt with the incident with great passion therefore emergin as leading advocates for hate crime legislation in Indiana. Adam and Maggie along with AMBS, the UBU and other local churches and citizens organized an event called Solidarity Day in Elkhart.

Chef Adam, wife Maggie and family were guest speakers at Goshen College on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and have been guest speakers at race forums at AMBS and the Unitarian Church in Elkhart. Chef Adam has appeared on Darla's Dish and Business Break (WSBT), Fox 28 News, MSNBC.com (Elkhart project), and featured in The National Journal out of Washington, D.C. He will be appearing on the Food Network at the end of December, 2009.

He and his wife continue to work towards passing a hate crime law in Indiana. They thank the community for all of their support.