Meet our 2027 Keynote Speaker!
Chef Rock Harper
Chef Rock Harper is a Washington, DC restaurateur, speaker, and culinary voice who has spent three decades in professional kitchens. Raised in Alexandria, VA, he came up through some of the region’s most respected kitchens, including B. Smith’s at Union Station, Ben’s Next Door, The Carlyle Club, and DC Central Kitchen, where he trained the next generation of cooks.
He won Season 3 of FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen in 2007. But the work he’s proudest of came after: building his own businesses as an independent operator.
He is the founder of Queen Mother’s Kitchen, a Southern comfort food brand born at National Landing, and a James Beard Award semifinalist. He now serves as Executive Chef at Manifest, leading the food and bar programs at (h)ours and after (h)ours in DC’s NoMa/Union Market neighborhood.
Rock also founded Hush Harbor, DC’s first phone-free bar. It started as a bar and grew into a movement. Taking its name from the secret gathering places of enslaved people, Hush Harbor is now a traveling pop-up and keynote platform about intentional presence and real human connection.
Rock hosts The Rock Harper Show, a podcast about restaurants, leadership, and kitchen culture. He is Vice Chair of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) Board, where he chairs the Strategic Planning Committee, and he serves on the board of the National Landing BID.