The Unstoppable Mawa McQueen

Hidden away in Aspen’s industrial outskirts near the airport, Mawa’s Kitchen appears out of nowhere. At first glance, the quiet, warehouse-filled street seems an unlikely setting for a culinary hotspot. But step inside, and that illusion quickly falls away.

Here in this light, airy space, with its French-inspired wallpaper and forest-green bar, Mawa McQueen’s world comes alive.

The chef herself is impossible to miss: a blur of energy and elegance as she weaves between guests and friends. Her bold-red tailored top, with dramatic flutter sleeves and a sculpted bodice, offers a graceful nod to her African heritage while fitting right in with Aspen’s stylish set. She moves easily between worlds, and perhaps that’s the secret to her culinary magic: a fearless fusion of deep-rooted tradition and modern refinement.

“It’s a global story told through flavor—rooted in my journey but made to be shared,” she says.

That journey began far from the Rockies.

Chef Mawa’s Early Days

Chef Mawa was born in the Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and raised in a crowded, low-income Paris apartment. While her parents worked several jobs to support them, she looked after—and cooked for—her ten younger siblings. “Food wasn’t just about nourishment—it was how we expressed love, built trust, and showed up for each other,” she recalls.

She remembers warm beignet puffs in the Côte d’Ivoire, grilled fresh fish served with yucca couscous, and bold Paris street food, especially crêpes. She was also exposed to the Moroccan, Tunisian, and Arabic cuisine of neighbors. “Those experiences taught me that great food doesn’t have to be complicated. It just has to be real, generous, and made with love.”

Paris was also where she took her first cooking classes—and began dreaming bigger.

A Woman Filled with Dreams Photo by Barbara Noe Kennedy

Inspired by Aspen

One day as a teenager, watching The Young and the Restless in her family’s tiny Paris apartment, a scene stopped her in her tracks: snow-draped mountains, a glowing fire, a romantic world she’d never seen before. Aspen.

“It was the beauty, the romance—I craved that sense of magic,” she says. That TV moment planted a seed.  And eventually, in 2002, she followed it.

But Aspen didn’t roll out a red carpet. It offered long shifts, high expectations, and few people who looked or sounded like her.

Her first culinary footing came at The Little Nell, Aspen’s iconic luxury hotel—but not in the kitchen. She worked front-of-the-house with customer interaction. The turning point came when a customer asked her to help at a holiday party. The kitchen was in chaos, and McQueen stepped in, calm, capable, fully in her element, rekindling a passion she thought she had left behind. That led to a private chef side business, and eventually: Mawa’s Kitchen.

The only space she could afford was tucked in the Aspen Airport Business Center. She ended up buying the building, explaining why Mawa’s Kitchen still sits there today.

Inspriing Entrees from Mawa’s Kitchen Photo by Kelsey Brunner

Chef Mawa’s Vision Expands

From that modest start, her vision expanded, and Aspen took notice. She opened two Crepe Shacks in Aspen and Snowmass Base Village, beloved for their “Bougie Crêpe” (aka the Caviar Crêpe); then Mawita, a Latin-inspired eatery in Snowmass (now closed). She also launched her high-end granola brand, Mawa’s GrainFreeNola, diversifying her business.

But success didn’t follow a straight line. There were moments—many of them—when she questioned everything, and she almost quit the business. “For a long time, I kept telling myself I wasn’t successful because I wasn’t good enough,” she admits. “So I pushed harder. I worked every day to master my craft—quietly, relentlessly, even when no one was watching.”

She wrote a cookbook, Mawa’s Way (2022), and a memoir, Unstoppable Ambition (2024), a title that captures her story.

A Pivotal Moment for Chef Mawa

A pivotal moment came in 2022 when she was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Mountain region. Friends texted her the news while she was grocery shopping. At first, she didn’t understand the significance, and then it hit. She screamed in the middle of the aisle.

“In that moment,” she says, “I felt seen. I realized what I was doing mattered. That people cared. That I was making a difference—not just through food, but through the story behind it.”

Soon after, Forbes profiled her as Aspen’s only Black-owned restaurant. Celebrity diners followed, including the famously vegan U.S. Senator Cory Booker. By 2023 and 2024, Mawa’s Kitchen was Michelin Guide–recommended.

“Sometimes success isn’t loud or instant,” she says. “It’s about staying in the game long enough to be recognized for what you’ve built—with your heart, resilience, and purpose.”

At Mawa’s Kitchen today, each dish tells a story. Spicy Beef Suya Skewers deliver the bold, fiery flavors of the Côte d’Ivoire. A Parisienne Omelette honors her French roots. And her personal favorite, Oxtail á la Bourguignonne over silky yucca purée, beautifully bridges cultures and continents in a single, soulful bite.

But flavor is only part of it.

“The real magic,” McQueen says,” is seeing the impact. When a young woman tells me she sees herself in my story. When someone tastes a dish and feels seen, remembered, comforted. That’s the real success.”

What’s Next for Mawa? Photo by Kelsey Brunner

So What’s Next for Mawa McQueen?

She’s expanding her vision through Crepe Therapy Café (formerly The Crepe Shack), focusing on the wellness, connection, and joy associated with eating crêpes; a new Boulder location opens in August 2025. At the same time, she’s growing Mawa Academy, mentoring the next generation of chefs and entrepreneurs—especially women, immigrants, and people of color—through speaking, coaching, and hands-on training.

“So what’s next?” she asks rhetorically. “Scale. Legacy. Global impact. And always staying true to who I am: bold, visionary, and unapologetically Mawa.”

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