The 21c Museum Hotel restaurant’s executive chef revisits familiar flavors and the holiday dish that continues to ground her
By Hannah Lee | Photography by John Michael Simpson
Melanie Wilkerson drove the same unremarkable stretch of road almost every day during her high school years in Los Angeles. Just a plain highway nestled at the base of a hillside.
Then, one Christmas, Melanie’s grandmother – Betty Massenburg, a pioneering educator and the first Black woman to serve as a principal in Durham Public Schools – came to visit. That ordinary drive Melanie had taken for granted for two or three years? Betty immediately saw something else. Something more. She urged her granddaughter to pull the car over, traffic be darned. Then Betty hopped out and started climbing the hill herself. At the top, behold: collard greens – a staple produce in Betty’s household and one of Melanie’s lifelong favorites. “To have her be able to cook her collards that day,” Melanie says, “was just like bringing home to us.”
Melanie, a Durham native, says she had a dual upbringing in North Carolina and California. That hillside moment still lingers in her memory – and now, as the executive chef at Counting House, it reminds her of why she’s exactly where she’s meant to be. “It just brought us back to here,” Melanie says of that day years ago. “I take a lot of influence from my grandmother. She was just an amazing woman, and she really taught me … how you celebrate yourself and your family and your community.”
If not for her grandmother, Melanie might never have become a chef. Her love of cooking – especially for homegrown, accessible food – began in Betty’s garden on Plum Street, a cornerstone of Durham’s historic Black community. One day, while a 12-year old Melanie harvested some string beans, she tasted one that had fallen on the ground – and was instantly moved. She’d dabbled in the kitchen before, mostly helping her grandmother, but that night, she truly watched Betty cook, soaking in every detail. Lessons like those, it turned out, she needed to learn firsthand.
“My grandmother very much didn’t write those things down – which in turn actually helped me a lot, because I would have to stand there with her and make it with her,” Melanie says. “It’s a lot of what I do with the cooks here – what I call intuitive cooking. What she really taught me, about produce in particular, is that you have to taste it before you cook it, because it changes daily.”
Her grandmother’s teachings guided Melanie and eventually led her to begin her own professional culinary journey. When Betty passed in 2007, Melanie was inspired to enroll at the since-shuttered Chef ’s Academy in 2011. She eventually moved to Wales and then back to California, refining her craft along the way. By 2021, she was chef de cuisine at FolkTable in Sonoma, helping the restaurant earn back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand awards.
But Melanie continuously felt a pull toward Durham. Which is why, in 2024, she and her wife, Sicily Johnson, moved back to raise their teenagers, Madison Johnson, 17, and Marlee Johnson, 13.
For her first holiday dinner back in her hometown in years, Melanie cooked green beans – the same recipe Betty taught her as a girl. That dish felt symbolic of her full-circle return. “It was just great to reconnect and feel family and feel all the love,” Melanie says. More than anything, Melanie wants people to know that cooking doesn’t require fancy ingredients or hours of preparation. A meal can be “approachable, affordable and something that is easy,” she says, and still be meaningful. Take her apple cider-brined chicken, which she’s made in some form or fashion for 15 years now, adjusting as her cooking skills evolved.
She loves it because it’s simple – a dish anyone can make and share. “It’s something that you have to give a little bit of thought to, but it’s also where you can pull in the rest of your family members and make it something that we can all do together,” Melanie says. “That’s what I like about cooking: A recipe isn’t finite; it’s just an outline, and then you put in the things that you enjoy.” Like collard greens, picked from the side of a highway.
Apple Cider-Brined Holiday Chicken
BRINE INGREDIENTS (for one 4 to 5 pound chicken)
- 1 quart (4 cups) apple cider (not vinegar), divided
- ¼ cup kosher salt
- ¼ cup brown sugar or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 6-8 fresh thyme sprigs
- 3-4 fresh rosemary sprigs
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 orange or apple, sliced
- 4-6 whole cloves or allspice (optional)
- 1 quart (4 cups) water
BRINING INSTRUCTIONS
In a large pot, bring half the cider and all other ingredients (except water) to a simmer until the salt and sugar dissolve. Remove from heat. Add the remaining cold cider and water to cool the mixture. Submerge the chicken completely in the brine (use a brining bag). Refrigerate for 12-24 hours. Remove the chicken and pat dry. Allow it to air dry in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours for crisper skin.
HERB BUTTER RUB (for one chicken)
- 6 tablespoons softened butter
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, thyme or sage, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced or made into a paste
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
RUB & ROASTING INSTRUCTIONS
Combine all ingredients. Spread the herb butter mixture under the skin and over the entire bird before roasting. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Roast for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 F and roast for an additional 45-55 minutes. Check internal temperature: Should be 165 F in the breast and 175 F in the thigh.
