Chef Mawa McQueen is the proud owner of three restaurants in Aspen and Snowmass Village, CO, Mawa’s Kitchen, Mawita, and The Crepe Shack, which she recently opened a second location of in downtown Aspen. Her life experiences growing up on the Ivory Coast and in Europe, and eventually moving to the United States were the foundation that ignited her passion for bringing food and comfort to people from all walks of life. In 2022, Mawa’s talent and hard work was recognized nationally and internationally by the James Beard Foundation when she was nominated as a semifinalist for the James Beard Award Best Chef West. Then in 2023 when Mawa’s Kitchen received the honor of becoming a MICHELIN Guide recommended restaurant in Colorado’s inaugural edition. Dedicated to inspiring everyone with her food and her story, Mawa launched her first cookbook, Mawa’s Way, which is not only a collection of fan favorite recipes from Mawa’s Kitchen in Aspen, CO, but also a story of grit and perseverance to achieve one’s dreams. Along with her restaurants and highly successful catering business, Mawa is also the prominent owner of a granola company where she produces her own variation of granola. Mawa’s GrainFreeNola is a delicious gluten-free, protein-rich, and vegan granola. It is made with the highest quality organic nuts and seeds and sweetened with Medjool dates. When Mawa is not cooking, running her multiple restaurants and granola business, she finds time to give back to her local, national, and international communities.