SoulNia is Preserving Soul Food

Kamiya Willoughby and Tess Hurlburt are more than wives; they are business partners with a vision of changing the way soul food is consumed, from mind to belly. Since the couple began SoulNia, they have been on a mission to bring back the heart of soul food and deliver not only its delicious flavors but the foundation on which it was formed.

“SoulNia is a vegan and vegetarian, pop-up restaurant and catering business, and we are dedicated and committed to redefining how soul food has been taken in by Americans, and specifically Denverites, historically and culturally,” said Willoughby.

She explained that soul food has become synonymous with food that is “bad for you” and is not considered a legitimate cuisine, and SoulNia wants to preserve the legacy of the true bedrock on which the cuisine was formed.

Willoughby has a special connection to crafting a dining experience, as her father started a catering business in 2013, Willowbeez Soulveg, in Columbus, Ohio. Meant to be an ode to his mother after she passed, Willoughby’s father transformed recipes from his childhood and altered the historically “unhealthy food” into fresh, vegetarian faire.

“I want to continue this story that we’re trying to tell about soul food in terms of it being more plant-based because that’s the roots of soul food. Before slaves were taken to America, they had more plant-based food, and the reason we have things like chitlins and fried chicken are because of what happened to slaves when they were here,” Willoughby said.

Understanding that the type of dishes they serve have such a strong historical background, SoulNia is here for the conversation.

“Fried chicken comes from a history of slaves serving fried chicken to the people that owned them, and chitlins are the scraps that African slaves were given and had to make do with.” She went on, “Our focus is more specifically on trying to be bring back those roots and have a cultural conversation that brings a better light to historically black food.”

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Hurlburt explained that SoulNia’s recipes incorporate classic flavors of West Africa, and they adhere to those classical cooking techniques when preparing meals. As the head chef, she works side-by-side with Willoughby to honor and incorporate the historical elements in each dish.

“We use a lot of local ingredients; we use a lot of fresh ingredients; we have a commitment to sustainability in an attempt to be as authentic as possible with what we’re making,” Hurlburt said.

Hurlburt has been reconstructing traditional Willoughby recipes since their first Valentine’s Day together as a couple.

“I met her when I was in the military, and I remember telling her about my family’s business, and I was like, ‘I want to do something like that,’ and she was so excited. She was like, ‘However I can help, I would love to because, like, I love to cook,’ Willoughby explained. ‘I was on leave [from the military], and she asked my mom, ‘Are there any recipes that you can give me that I can make for her, something that reminds her of home?’ My mom just gave her all of these family recipes.”

As SoulNia are still in the growth stages, looking for community partners and getting their name and their recipes in front of people, it’s the strength they have in their relationship with each other that make the long hours less and painful and continues to encourage them to remain hard at work.

Hurlburt explained, “We are both masterful communicators; we have to be in order to maintain a marriage and a business…”

“Our sanity,” Willoughby said, as they both laughed.

“We’re busy, and we have to be able to be on the same page to do this,” Hurlburt said.

For the couple, the beginning stages of building their business have come with some learning curves, including vetting customers who may be looking to cut corners.

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“When people seek us out, we are able to ascertain whether they know our worth and are willing to work with us because they value all that we are,” Hurlburt said.

She continued, “We have small enough margins already because we’re local; it’s just us; we have to account for our time, and we have to pay ourselves. It means that the price ticket is sometimes a little higher, but I think when people realize that they’re working with a local, women-owned business, they’re working with an LGBT-owned business, a black-owned business, a veteran-owned business, a student-owned business, [they realize] the place where they’re putting their money is somewhere important and is representing something important.”

Running on a business model of significance, they also realize that sustainability and minimizing environmental impact is just as important to their values.

“We try to work with local produce or local providers of honey, things like that. We compost any food waste that we have leftover,” Hurlburt said.

Willoughby went on, “We minimize our food waste as much as possible when we have events, we try to obviously have proportions correct, but if we have food leftover, we’re donating that food to other entrepreneur communities. So, if it’s not eaten by the party, it’s eaten by someone.”

Having a lot of leftovers, though, is not something that SoulNia has to worry too much about, as their nutritious and delicious, Southern dishes get gobbled up.

From their fan favorite take on the classic collard greens and cornbread to their nourishing and flavorful, Caribbean curry cauliflower, SoulNia expertly blend traditional soul food staples with its originating African roots. The delicious, vegan mac and cheese is definitely something you don’t want to miss.

The pop-up restaurant events give Willoughby and Hurlburt an opportunity to not only share their signature dishes and grow their business, but to also connect with people one-on-one about what they value most. Slowly removing the stigma of what soul food is, they are nourishing the community

“I think it’s important, especially in this political climate and the current situation that we have, and the relationship that the black community has with the rest of America. Soul food is a reflection of our history, and that’s a reflection of our history that we can comfortably celebrate, and it’s a celebration of black people in this country,” said Willoughby.

“Soul food has native roots; it has Latin roots, it has European roots, it has West African roots, there’s all of this mishmash, and it’s such a reflection of what who our country is. I think that we have a capability to have a lot of important conversations because we’re setting a plate of food in front of people. I’m honored to be part of that.

“Being able to talk about where the food that they’re putting in their mouth is coming from and why it’s been made like this for generation after generation after generation is really, really special,” Shurlburt said.

*Photos provided by SoulNia