LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — SoulFeast continues its 10-day celebration on Monday across Lexington with its fourth annual Black Restaurant Week.
From the kitchen to the table, SoulFeast founders Martina and Marcellus Barksdale created Black Restaurant Week back in 2020 with the goal to highlight Black culinary and agriculture in central Kentucky, one bite at a time.
In partnership with Black Soil KY, each restaurant must incorporate one ingredient from a local Black farmer in their meal. This is the perfect opportunity for local restaurants to get their name and dish out into the community.
"Here at Wing Kyng we honestly keep it simple with wings and potatoes. We got over 47 flavors now," said Thomas Williams, the owner of Wing Kyng located at 101 West Loudon Avenue Unit 110 in Lexington. "A house blend of sweet and spicy and that just pays homage to my community."
Wing Kyng is one of the many restaurants being featured for Black Restaurant Week. It features the mouth-watering Dirt Bowl Class wing basket: "It's my personal favorite. It's a fan favorite. It's the first sauce we came up with."
With their sourced ingredient being white potatoes for Cleav's Family Market in LaRue County.
Next on the list is Mimi's Southern Style Cooking, located at 126 East New Circle Road in Lexington.
"If you are looking to have something that is very filling but from the soul and something that is from like back in the day that your grandmother would cook. Mimi's is your place to come," said Larree Comer, the kitchen manager of Mimi's Southern Style Cooking.
The sourced ingredient they will be using is eggs from Hills of Kindness Farm in Taylor County. Comer says she's so grateful Mimi's is able to be recognized in this way, "I think it's really great to do something like this. To highlight Black restaurants to also give the Black restaurants and the Black farmers and Black soil a platform. I think it's absolutely amazing."
"Homemade fluffy, buttery, Belgium waffle that is of course dripped in syrup with our fried chicken that is fried in house daily. With our own house made, seasoned four," Comer describes.
The other restaurants included in this year's Black Restaurant Week are:
- Moody Mike's: Henny Butter Scrimp (vegan) dish
- Chef Li's Tacos: Li's Jerk dish
- Genesis Coffee House and Eatery: Big Bayou Chicken Sandwich Tray
- Josanne's Homestyle Kitchen: Cajun Catfish & Grits and The Ultimate Creole Box
- Honey J's Southern Eatery: Kickin' Cajun Box
- CRĒAUX: Seafood Gumbo
- JD's Kitchen & Catering: Dova's Sauce/Big Back Sauce
- Mix It Up Mobile Concession: BBQ Chicken Salad
"It's crazy. It's amazing honestly man, like I said. It's all about the community, the culture and for everybody to be able to see it and put that light on it," said Williams.
For the first time, SoulFeast now introduces Proud-to-Pay. An option to pay full price or choose a discounted price you are comfortable paying for their Gospel Brunch on Sunday, June 23, which is the last day of SoulFeast.
