Kyisha

What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken, and how far did it get you? For Kyisha, we’re still finding out.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Kyisha Davenport is rooted in the hospitality industry. When dreams of college were seemingly deferred, Kyisha turned to a Craigslist ad for bartending school, hoping to make some money to get back on track. Over the summer of 2009, those first seeds were planted; as New Yorkers say, “lemme find out…“

Turns out there was something to this bartending thing, and by 2012 Kyisha was working full time in NYC. Coming from a union family, she soon started to focus on foodservice worker organizing when not behind the bar. Organizing led her to Boston in 2016; though she saw some successes, by 2017 she was back in restaurants – this time, in a new city, with many a challenge ahead.

Working as a server and eventually bartender around the city, Kyisha co-opened Tanám in 2019, a ten seat dining experience that landed the team a James Beard nod, and making her one of the first Black Restaurant of the Year award winners in Boston’s history. Over the next few years, Kyisha wrote and was featured in multiple publications, including a 2021 guest editor role at Edible Boston Magazine, a recurring guest of the Boston.com Cocktail Club, StarChefs, Thirsty Magazine, Campari America and For the Culture Food Mag – the inaugural zine that became For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food: Interviews, Inspiration and Recipes by Klancy Miller, published by HarperCollins in 2023 (where Kyisha is featured as well).

Departing from Tanám in 2021, Kyisha opened Comfort Kitchen as Beverage Director, and then Director of Operations. During her tenure at Comfort Kitchen, Kyisha’s work was foundational to the businesses’ early success, from a coveted spot on the New York Times’ The Restaurant List 2023, to a finalist for Best New Restaurant at the 2024 James Beard Awards, and a feature in the Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil in 2025. Her commitment to centering Black and BIPOC culture and cuisine over nearly a decade in Boston has solidified her as a driving force for equity and excellence in the hospitality industry.