Chef Kev has been in the food business for the past twenty-five years. A Morehouse man, he started working in finance, but the culinary arts kept drawing his interest. Eventually, he succumbed to the urge while acknowledging the high failure rate in the restaurant industry, he also noted the shortage of healthy plant-based food options available to his community. In his youth, he experienced what it meant to live in a food desert where there were limitations in the type of available healthy food to the community and the impact where there were shortages of healthy choices.
Chef Kev has extensive experience in the financial industry, having worked in the field for several years. He worked for many years at Delta Air Lines before moving into the culinary field, knowing that this is a high-risk and challenging business. Chef Kev said, “I was told that the failure rate in this industry is extremely high and life would be better off in finance or banking, but my calling was to provide healthier options on the tables of our communities.” He worked as a chef at a restaurant at the Atlanta airport as well as at his own restaurants.
During the pandemic, he was focused on plant-based food delivery. During this period, the chef recognized two important issues within food in the southwest Atlanta community. There was limited access to fresh, healthy food, and many people did not know how to cook. As Chef Kev said, “When looking at food, it should be seen from the perspective of its transformative ability. It is able to change how people and communities see themselves. Healthy options bring even more value to the community and help in removing food trauma in the southwest area.”
There are plans for changes to the food options in the southwest Atlanta area. Chef Kev is teaming up with Urban Oak with plans to build a Food Studio at Pittsburgh Yards. While showing the space where the kitchen will be built out, he explained that the location will facilitate around twenty-five plant-based vendors in 2024. As the project expands, there will be room for food trucks. The southwest part of the city hosts the largest communities in public housing. This project will change the nature of healthy options for the communities of the Southwest. This will be the largest base of plant-based healthy food delivery services in the city of Atlanta once it becomes fully operational. The project will provide a space where cooks and food creatives will be able to develop their products for markets. The build-out of the studio is scheduled for completion next year with other ventures being rolled out as part of the Pittsburgh Yards facility expansion.
Last updated on November 30, 2023
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