Mashama Bailey remembers the first time a line cook told her they couldn't afford their rent. It was 2015, just months after opening The Grey in a converted Greyhound bus terminal in downtown Savannah. The restaurant was already drawing national attention, but Bailey found herself staying late after service, helping staff navigate eviction notices and medical bills on wages that barely covered the basics.

"That's when I realized we had to do more than just cook good food," Bailey said in a 2024 interview with Eater. "We had to figure out how to make this industry sustainable for the people who actually make it run."

Now, more than a decade later, Bailey's dual commitment to culinary excellence and worker advocacy has earned her a spot on Time's 2026 TIME100 list of the world's most influential people, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The recognition, announced today, places the Savannah-based chef alongside global leaders, artists, and activists in the magazine's 23rd annual ranking.

From the Bronx to Savannah

Bailey's path to influence began far from Georgia's coastal plains. Raised in the Bronx by a family with deep Queens roots, she initially pursued social work before enrolling at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York. Her early career took her through some of Manhattan's most demanding kitchens, including Prune under Gabrielle Hamilton, where she learned that cooking could be both technically rigorous and deeply personal.

When she partnered with businessman John O. Morisano to open The Grey in 2014, the project was immediately ambitious. The restaurant occupied a segregation-era bus station where Black travelers once waited in separate areas—a history Bailey and Morisano chose to acknowledge rather than erase. The menu Bailey developed drew on her own family's migration stories, blending techniques from the African diaspora with ingredients from Georgia's farms and waters.

The Grey earned a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2017. Bailey herself won the Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in 2022, becoming one of only a handful of Black women to receive the honor.

But even as accolades accumulated, Bailey was watching her industry buckle under pressures that predated the pandemic and only intensified afterward.

The Labor Crisis in American Kitchens

The restaurant industry lost 2.5 million jobs in the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. While employment has largely recovered in raw numbers, the composition of the workforce has fundamentally changed. Experienced cooks, servers, and dishwashers left for steadier work in warehouses, healthcare, and delivery driving—jobs that offered better pay, benefits, and schedules.

A 2025 National Restaurant Association survey found that 78% of restaurant operators reported recruitment and retention as their top challenge, up from 45% in 2019. Median hourly wages for cooks have risen 23% since 2020, but still hover around $16.50 nationally—barely above what Amazon pays warehouse workers in most markets, and without health insurance or paid sick leave.

Bailey responded by restructuring The Grey's entire compensation model. In 2023, she eliminated tipping and moved to a service-inclusive pricing system that allowed her to raise back-of-house wages by 35%. She instituted paid sick leave, health insurance contributions, and a profit-sharing program that distributes 15% of quarterly earnings to hourly staff.

"People thought I was crazy," Bailey told Food & Wine last year. "But we can't keep asking people to sacrifice their lives for our restaurants. The math has to work for everyone, or it doesn't work at all."

Beyond the Kitchen

Bailey's influence extends well beyond her own restaurant's walls. She has testified before Georgia's state legislature on wage theft protections for restaurant workers and partnered with the Southern Foodways Alliance to document the stories of Black cooks and farmers whose contributions to Southern cuisine have been historically overlooked.

Her 2021 memoir, co-written with Morisano, "Black, White, and The Grey: The Story of an Unexpected Friendship and a Beloved Restaurant," became required reading in hospitality management programs across the country. The book's frank discussions of race, power, and partnership in professional kitchens opened conversations that many in the industry had long avoided.

In 2024, Bailey launched the Grey Foundation, a nonprofit that provides emergency financial assistance and career development resources to hospitality workers in coastal Georgia. The foundation has distributed more than $400,000 in direct aid and helped 150 workers transition into higher-paying positions, including several who have gone on to open their own businesses.

Recognition and What Comes Next

Time's recognition of Bailey reflects a broader shift in how influence is measured in American culture. The TIME100 list has historically centered political leaders and entertainment figures, but recent years have increasingly highlighted individuals working to reshape industries from within.

"Mashama understands that great cooking and worker dignity aren't separate goals—they're the same goal," wrote José Andrés in his tribute to Bailey for Time. "She's proving that restaurants can be both excellent and humane."

For Bailey, the honor arrives at a moment when the restaurant industry faces continued uncertainty. Labor costs are rising, consumer spending remains uneven, and climate change is disrupting the agricultural supply chains that independent restaurants depend on. Yet she remains optimistic that fundamental change is possible.

"We're in a moment where we can either keep doing things the way we've always done them and watch this industry collapse, or we can build something better," Bailey said in a recent podcast interview. "I know which one I'm choosing."

The Grey continues to operate at full capacity most nights, with reservations booked months in advance. But Bailey has turned down opportunities to expand into other cities, preferring to deepen her work in Savannah rather than dilute it across multiple locations.

Her next project, set to open in late 2026, will be a more casual concept focused on training young cooks in both culinary technique and business management—an acknowledgment that sustainable change requires not just better policies, but a new generation of leaders who understand that caring for workers and caring for food are inseparable acts.