Chef Chloe Gould Blends Southern Roots With Southeast Asian Flavor

A tiny restaurant can hold a whole neighborhood together if the intention is right. We’re back in the studio for Season 11, and we’re joined by Chef Chloe Gould, the owner of Dixie Pura Kitchen, a Black-owned restaurant tucked into Chicago’s Bronzeville community. Chloe doesn’t just cook, she translates. Her “Southern meets Southeast Asian” approach turns familiar comfort into a cultural bridge, and the dining room feels like home on purpose, right down to the photos on the walls and the conversations that make guests forget the clock.

We go deep on the story behind the name Dixie Pura, how Singapore shaped her palette, and how grief, a kidney transplant, and personal loss reshaped her relationship with food, work, and joy. Chloe also breaks down what people rarely see: the kitchen ladder from prep to line cook to sous chef, the business math behind food costs, and the reality of running service with a lean team while still protecting the guest experience.

Then we get practical and timely about technology in restaurants. What happens when robots deliver plates, staffing stays unstable, and AI tools become the “extra set of hands” small businesses can’t afford? We talk sustainability, training costs, and why human touch still matters, plus a bigger community play: how collective buying power could help Black-owned restaurants protect margins without cutting corners.

If you’re planning a Chicago food trip, looking for a Bronzeville gem, or building a business and need a real founder story, press play. Subscribe to Black Businesses Matter, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find these stories.

Transcript

Welcome Back And Season 11

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Black Businesses Matter, a podcast about why Black businesses matter and the benefits of collaborating and advocating for Black businesses. To drive impact, each episode will cover legacy, hope, black joy, funding sources, cultural shifts, equality, and so much more. We will provide inspiration and action while spreading some joy to a thriving community of black business owners and leading thought leaders.

SPEAKER_04 0:29

I am Larvetta Lofton, your host and the founder of the L3 Agency.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Known as the brand maiden who transforms organizations with their storytelling promise, meet Larvetta L. Lofton Arnold, host of Black Businesses Matter, a podcast about why black businesses matter and the benefits of collaborating and advocating for black businesses to drive impact.

Meet Chef Chloe Gould

Designing A Restaurant Like Home

SPEAKER_05 0:54

Oh, welcome back. Welcome back. Well, it's been a while. It's been a while. We are back in the studio. We got a whole new studio. I don't know if you guys see it. Of course, for those of us that are on video, you can see it. For those that are um listening through their audio, you can't see us, but it is real fancy in here. Uh, and I'm grateful. Thank you, Delvin, for this amazing studio. Um, he handles all of our audio and studio and all that, all that things because he is the genius audio. So I will say this as you know, this is season 11 of our podcast. We have uh over 120 episodes, and there's still more people that we want to interview and bring on the show. And this next young lady who we have, um you're gonna wanna eat. Let me just say that. You're gonna wanna go and just warm your little pile palette together because she's just not just a chef. Um she really is called the food translator. And I love that um because I do think that food translates into love, right? It translates into so much and it makes me very happy. So we're gonna talk about how technology um is shifting in the food industry and what that means. And so that's gonna be important. The other thing is for Black Businesses Matter podcast, you know, we're now on YouTube, uh, so you'll be able to log in and just check us out. Like that's that's the win. So as we've taken a small break, a little sabbatical to really refine our podcast and identify guests that we really want to lean into for you to tap into, support, visit, um, connect, whatever it is, and just build more community. And our next guest, we were supposed to do a live at her beautiful, beautiful restaurant on the south side of Chicago in Bronzeville, but we were unable. But here's what we do have: we have her in the studio. She doesn't have any food with us, but that doesn't mean anything because you can go and get food. Um, you can go and order, you can travel here. People travel to Chicago for food, and you might want to put this on your list. I promise you, it will never disappoint. Chloe, and it what's the last name? Gould, yes. Chef and owner of Dixie Pure Kitchen has over 20 years of experience in restaurants, hotels, and education. A Chicago native, she graduated from Johnson Wells University and has been recognized as a food translator. Yeah, we're gonna dig into that for her unique blend of Southern and Southeast Asian cuisine. After teaching in Singapore, Chloe returned to Chicago, where she focuses on community engagement and culinary education, having trained hundreds of students. She's been featured in media outlets, one Food Network Supermarket Stakeout, and caters for events, including celebrity concerts. We're gonna have to ask her what are some of those celebrities that she's worked with. Dixie Pura Kitchen opened in Chicago's Bronzeville community on October 18th, 2025. And I've had the pleasure of sitting and dining at Dixie Pura Kitchen, and I have the chef in our studio today. Woohoo! Welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you. I'm excited to have it's amazing, right? Because seeing you in the restaurant and seeing you here.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Two different things.

SPEAKER_05 4:53

Two different things. Um but but I love it, right? You were very like, it's it's something about your restaurant. It's so, let me tell you why, it's so small and quaint. So I didn't, I wanted to tell you this. I wanted to wait to tell you this. The restaurant, the reason why I love it so much. Now, for me, the food is amazing as a pestitarian or vegetarian. But sometimes I don't want any fish. I just want I want heavy vegetables, and you just, and you said that. You were like, if people know how to do vegetarian and it's good, and vegetarians say that, we know the other food is good. I agree. But let me tell you what sparked me to love your restaurant. I lived in New York for two and a half years, and I went to this super Mediterranean. Um, it was a Mediterranean restaurant, and it was about it was about the size of your restaurant. And it was my favorite place to go to. I would walk there, I would dine there. Like it was my jam. Your restaurant gives me the same feel of that New York. And again, shout out to New York. I mean, we love Chicago, but there's just something special about New York, Brooklyn. Um, you walk it down a street, you pop in, you see everybody you want to know, and walk home. There's something special about that. And that's what your restaurant gives me. Was that the intent when you were building um and finding the location?

SPEAKER_02 6:27

You know what's crazy? The location found me. But I think when you uh speak about New York, because I went to school on the East Coast, and so many of my friends are from Brooklyn, Bronx, and all of that. Um, especially like when you talk about like we think about the bodegas and stuff like that. They're very intentional because it's the community, yeah. Uh some of them represent people home. Yep. So actually, my restaurant represents my home.

SPEAKER_05 6:54

So you got the pictures there.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

I'm the one that got pictures of everyone uh at my house. Um I'm big on pictures. I those are my favorite colors that's in the restaurant. Um, and it translated really well. I was actually afraid to showcase the restaurant in this way because the traditional restaurant scene doesn't look like my restaurant. It doesn't. And um, I want people to walk away feeling a sense of home. And it's so much so that people don't want to leave sometimes. That was me.

SPEAKER_05 7:21

We I think we kind of shut it down.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

We were the past shutting it out. Like we have, and it's typically we know when we have first dates there, yeah. Because right now we close at like 9 30 on Fridays and Saturdays, and we'll have a first date um or it'll be a date, and we'll see it's the first date because they come in at eight o'clock on time, right? And then they don't leave until the conversation is great. They try not to leave until 10. Yeah. Now, mind you, we or 10 uh 10:30. Yep. Um, mind you, we close at 9 30. So like we usually give that extra 15 minutes of grace, but it's like nobody's letting up the lights. Yeah, yeah. Because, but it's a sense of home, and we just we invite you back. Yeah, on your second day, you know. Yes, we've had engagements there.

SPEAKER_05 8:03

Like, I could totally, and I took a friend of mine for her birthday, and it hadn't, right? We um she and I hadn't had our girl daytime. We used to do this a lot now, you know, she's got a lot going on, we got a lot going on. So it was like something that she even said. She was like, that was such a memorable moment. We were she did something for her birthday, but I totally agree with you. Um, it's, I mean, for those of you all that are outside of Chicago, it's nestled into Bronzeville. Yes. And I think people understand it's nestled. So it's not out here like, hey, screaming. It's nestled. Um, and just what you just said and describing it, it feels like home. It it because it's nestled, like a community where it's nestled and it's there. It's like, oh my gosh, I really want it, it is definitely that. And I do want to add, they have a cute bar. And it's so cute. And I say cute bar, is because for some of us as professionals, executives, all the things. We want a bar that is cheers-like. We got the big rails and all that. All the things. And it's just enough for you to go get you um after work, go. You can still get food, but it's enough.

Drinks With Stories Behind Them

SPEAKER_02 9:23

It's not, it's not the it's not it's not the so it's not the average big bar, right? So it's very quaint. The bar, the restaurant, uh, the kitchen, everything is is small, right? But we are very intentional. It was like with the food. I am not a um uh um mixologist, but I created all the drinks. Um, and with the drinks, uh they're very intentional. Also with the brands that we utilize in our space. And um, some of those drinks have very special stories behind them, like our Southern Raven Punch. That was my it's it sounds like it's something really sweet, but it's not everything is well balanced. But that's our number one drink. Um, and that came from um uh Uncle Near's dinner I did last year for Black History Month. Everyone loved it so much that I mean, they was like, Can we get more of the punch? Can we get more of the punch? And it's not super sweet. It's uh and some people um they they look at all the ingredients and I'm very particular about the ingredients. So I literally went out and sourced them. I talked to mixologists, yeah. I talked to those like those people who specialize in this craft because it's different. Chefs and mixologists, yeah, they specialize in in mixing drinks. Yeah, and so and I can balance, I learned to balance drinks because I can balance flavor, yeah, and that's where it was from. But the Black Beauty is strong for me, but that's after my sister. She her nickname is Black Beauty. Wow. And so that's my sister's, she's a year and a half under me. Wow. And so that is literally her drink. She loves a side car, and we made the side car how she would drink it, and um, she helped with that. She, if she didn't like it, she said she didn't like it, which she did. She didn't like the first one. I liked the first one because it was a little more sour, not as strong, but that was her, you know, it was her drink. So people love it.

The Meaning Of Dixie Pura

SPEAKER_05 11:13

So yeah, I just want to say that I love the intentionality behind it. The restaurant, um, the bar, like it feels like home. It feels like home. And it melts my heart. Yeah, it feels like home. And it, and so I want you all to understand now, though, because it's small, you got to get out of there though, because she got to get other customers in there. Um, because as much as I love it. And so here's the other thing. So I was telling someone, I did share it with a few friends, and they did go and they liked it. But so one of the things that they said was, oh, this is the one you try to keep to yourself. I was like, I did, because when I really love something, I'm like, I don't want too many people to know about it. Cause then I it's it's it don't feel special. But that's my that's my little ism sometimes. I'm always like, I'm not, uh, I'm not giving. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not sharing. So let's talk about before Chef, before Chloe became, and then um, even with the origin of your name, like um, because I want to get this right.

SPEAKER_03 12:14

Gold, good, gold, gold, gold, gold. So it's gold.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

So you gotta go with Ah, I love it. I love it. Robbie Gold used to pronounce his name wrong. It's just not pronounced like we're spelled the same, but it's not pronounced. So that's so thank you for that. I don't know. He just accepted what people were saying. And I don't accept I don't accept the wrong names, and so also Dixie Pura. Yeah, I know. So people say Dixie Pura, and it's Dixie Pura. P-U-R-A actually comes from the Malay spelling of of Singapore. So that was and Singapore actually represents that melting pot, which was the initial background of where the name came from. So the name came from a dream. I had no idea what it really truly meant until it later. Like I learned what Pora meant and what it stood for later when my friend was like, you know, the um, that's a Malaysian spelling. Wow. I said, What? I just thought it was I saw it on all the buildings. So, um, and I I mean, you know how dreams come about. Like, yeah, I think it pulls from past uh experiences, yeah. And it was like I was going through some challenges in life, and I woke up with it and wrote it down. I woke up with my uh logo and drew it, and I'm not an artist, but they were able to be beautiful, you know. So yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:32

So do you get this? Because a lot of times what people, when I did share them, do you know what they think? Oh, is that Dixie Kitchen coming back?

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Some people say that, and I'm like, no, we're not Dixie Kitchen.

SPEAKER_05 13:42

And I knew that, but but it's amazing how people we take that one, which and Dixie Kitchen was a staple in Hyde Park.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

So I take that as um a good thing too. Yeah, yeah. My cousin R. Key, who passed away last year, she literally um uh loved Dixie Kitchen. So, and people call me Miss Dixie as well. Ah, so I I like if this is their way of filling the filling the gap of our culture, of understanding, and then they come in and they get educated on where we are. Yeah. Because Dixie Kitchen was nothing but another vessel of education behind our southern background, right? So this is just another extension of that.

SPEAKER_05 14:22

Yeah. And I love it, and I will say that. So we're gonna get this right. Dixie pura. Dixie Pura. Poor. It's poor. So when you look at it, you want to say that, but poor is really the I mean, I'm saying in my mind is is poor. P-O-U-R-A. Poor. Um, Dixie pour kitchen. Dixie poor. I got it. Um, so pronounced D B K. Oh, oh, D B K. D P K P K? I like that. Um, that's cute too. So here's what we want to make sure that people understand is that they come to get this cuisine because it is this southern eastern cuisine. And it's a little southern. Um I mean, it's so when I was telling people, I was like, it's southern with a little and then cultural.

Grief Resilience And Rebuilding

SPEAKER_02 15:08

It's cultural. So Dixie Pora actually, like, so I was talking about how the um the meaning of the name came later. So it came um, I want to say in 2022. Um, so the pandemic set me down. Um, I had great times, but then I had a big learning curve. And um I would say, so I just to give a little background for this. So in 2017, I underwent uh well, I was a I got a kidney transplant, but I also lost a child. So I was depressed from 2017 to 2022.

SPEAKER_05 15:44

Can we just take a pause? That's heavy.

SPEAKER_02 15:49

Yeah, it is. It's uh and is it's like it's grief too, because like what I celebrate is the kidney transplant. What I mourn is my child.

SPEAKER_05 15:59

Yeah, I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

Yeah, so during that time, it's like um it's crazy because I don't I try it's like I talk about it, but I try not to spend too much time on it. Okay, but I've also been through no no no, it's it's fine because this is something like I think I actually touched on in a video I just posted too, just celebrating the aunties who pop uh who lost a child or couldn't conceive a child or just decided not to have a child because of the state win or whatever, you know, whatever the choice may be. I shared in the restaurant, it's just like that.

SPEAKER_05 16:39

I love that. I was um, I think it's funny as you even bring that up because I think about that. Like, no, I don't have any children, but I'm the auntie to all the kids and you know, all my babies. And I want to see them win, you know, I want to see them grow. I want them to be all that they were created to be. I want them to be comfortable in the skin that they are, their identity, all of that, right? And then I say, and I'm not a mama, what happened to me? You know, so you get questions. So that's a I appreciate you for recognizing because I think sometimes um we miss out on that story, right? We hear the story as a mom, but we don't hear the midwives to that moment, the aunties, all of it, right?

SPEAKER_02 17:22

The second mom. My nephew, um I don't know where this kid got this from, but he's four. And I remember he at the age of two, he called me TT Mommy. Now I have a nephew that's eight that was born. I put myself in labor. Um he was born four days after my kidney transplant. Wow. So he was born July 14, 2017. My kidney transplant was July 10th.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 17:50

And they were about to put her in the hospital. Now, the connection with my nephew, who's four, he'll be five in April. He literally uh called me T T Mommy. Nobody ever told him to do that. And what but my sister literally he had like um what is it called? Uh he was colicky. Um so she was going through this, you know, they go through a lot, you know, um women that's having kids, so she's going through all this, and she just could not bear the crying. Wow. And so I literally would come over there and she would just give them to me as if as if he's mine. Wow. And he's he's still my little both of them, all my nephews. I have a lot of nephews that don't even, I don't even have siblings.

unknown 18:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

We don't even share the same blood. But they my nephews and nieces. Yeah. And the thing is that what we don't talk about is when we go home, they still go to their parents.

SPEAKER_05 18:44

But I do feel that sense of lostness. Yeah. I could I I receive that. I I receive that. I definitely receive that. I understand exactly how you feel in that space. And that's we just don't talk about that side of it from that standpoint. So tell me this, Chloe, knowing that, right, you're this amazing auntie chef. Who was Chloe before all of this?

Finding Family And Identity

SPEAKER_02 19:12

I actually um so I met my dad eight uh eight years ago in August. Um I found him on Ancestry, and I actually also found his brothers who lived here in Chicago. One lived in Atlanta. I actually met my uncle Ron before I met my dad. And um, so connected like history of family, right? And so my dad is Andre Watkins. He actually lives in Beverly, he's uh uh retired police officer. Um and his cousin before she died, she actually told me who he was, and she just hoped for the best. Just like don't share that I um that I um told you. But this is after like a couple months, so it didn't just happen. But if I I still have all the messages and everything, but I just went out saying point blank. Um I don't know who my father is, I know his first name is Andre um and he was the paramedic. That was his first uh city job. So I go on to to introduce that because I felt like an abandoned child like um growing up.

SPEAKER_03 20:27

Um I think well this is not a thing, this is this is just truth. I my mom and I had like a challenging relationship where um I don't know that she knew how to receive me or how to love me in the way that I need to be loved.

Food As Therapy And Survival

SPEAKER_02 20:54

It's just like knowing your love languages. Yeah, so um now she has five kids and she's a single parent. Yeah, but I was that child that did not receive the love like that. Um, and it could have been for a relationship, I don't know. I haven't heard the story. I really don't care to hear the story now, but um just want to work on moving forward and us being great, you know. But um food became the therapy for it. So me and Food didn't always have a great relationship. Um the relationship we had was very toxic actually. Um overeating. Um my first love was and like Castle should number two. Okay, that's that was love for me. Um and I was always uh overweight kid and so I was never looked at the pretty one or Never told I was a pretty girl because you overweight. It don't matter how you look, you fat. That's it. And so that became my relationship with food. And then um also watching my grandmother cook.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

So relationship with food was cooking, eating, um masking. Oh yeah, yeah. Full, full mask, shame, you know.

Learning The Craft The Hard Way

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Um and which uh I would say led me because I started cooking at eight. Like me and my brother, my mom in college trying to, you know, make a way for us. Um hell, we lived in shelters. Um, or shelter we lived in like my aunt's um uh apartment. She already had her own kids. So imagine like pileing up. So um it was not like riches and glory, you know. So um we went without. My mom was what I call a bougie, she was bougie broke because she refused to go to the um to the food pantries. Um and she whatever she was look, she was gonna make sure we got the money to eat what we wanted to eat or what she said we would eat, right? If we was eating Popeyes at night or whatever, or she was gonna cook fried chicken. I don't know. She was gonna make sure it happened. She always worked, always did her thing. She's like, I I do know I get my work ethic from her. Like her and my dad, now I know my dad. Yeah, both of them have very strong work ethic. Yeah, um, but I went to Dunbar, and so before like this, um, now who I am now, which I am still Chloe, I'm still touchable. Um, I will always remain in. I already told people, look, check me. Check me, boo. Because you gotta remain humble in this space. Um, but it was um my chef instructor who, well, before I even got into Dunbar, I had to test to get in because it was overcrowded. Um, the culinary department was overcrowded. Wow. I didn't know I wanted to be a chef at that time.

SPEAKER_05 24:20

I didn't know that Dunbar had a culinary. I knew CVS because my good friend is a teacher, um Dave Fuller, for years.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Yeah, we worked together.

unknown 24:27

Oh, wow!

SPEAKER_05 24:28

Yeah, me and Dave Fuller worked together. And so I didn't know that Dunbar had a culinary.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

Yeah, we was actually number one. We used to click kill it. Yeah, yeah. We were the ones to to be brought downtown and do all those things, and it's sad that it's no longer, but um, like Dave Fuller was fighting for that, everybody was fighting for that to continue. But yeah, um, but yeah, Dunbar was well known for um Dunbar Vocational Career Academy. Um and we were the number one culinary, like we had we were getting all the big scholarships for Johnson Wells, CIA, all those things now. That wasn't my story. Right. But okay, I got 2,000. Okay. But well, that's good. I no, no, that was good. Yeah, I got a full scholarship offer. Um You did. You did yeah, I got a full scholarship offer for Sullivan, but you know, sometimes you have to also go with where your heart is. Sure. And I was introduced at 15. So 15, I got my first job with O'Hare Hilton. Nice. And um, but just before then, when I tested into the class and it started serious, and they can pull me for any event that was open. Um, that's when I knew I wanted to be a chef. So at 15, that was it. I knew it. Um, I always love um food network shows and stuff like that. Um don't love it so much now. Even though I won, I always think about it too much competition. We have too much competition in the world right now, right now. We need more togetherness, yeah, you know, more let's build around the table. Yeah. So um more community. Yeah. So yeah. So um at 15, I wanted to be a chef, and then we won against uh colleges with the fo with the um gingerbread houses, and me and my friend David got to go and work uh for old Harry Hilton at 15, traveling on the blue line. Wow, yeah, be prep cooks. And so when I tell people like I've been in this industry for over 20 years, it's true professionally.

The Real Path From Prep To Chef

SPEAKER_05 26:36

So tell me this, and I say this because this is one of the things that I don't think people understand the culinary, my good friend Cliff Rome. You know, he's been on the show, known him for 20-something years, 25, 30 years. And I've seen him from the beginning all the way to having, you know, a whole empire, right? So I think it would be helpful to walk people through like, how do you start in a restaurant? Like to get from prep to pastry chef to like, what are the role, what are the job titles to this? And you know, how what's your entryway into it to maybe, you know, be the the executive chef? Like, how does that what's that what's that role?

SPEAKER_02 27:21

It takes work, it's not microwave. Right now I feel like we're in a microwave over. I can't say that again. We are generation. Yes, we are. Yeah. This generation is all about microwave. They want it now, yeah, like tomorrow. Um, or last night.

SPEAKER_05 27:35

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

Um, but it's literally to start to you have to understand the guests, you have to understand the the culture, you have to understand the food. So is that the prep? That's the prep. So I would say like to get the understanding, just the base is you're starting in prep. Okay um because you have to have a foundation first.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

So starting in prep, and then for everyone is different though. Okay. You know, um graduating from a culinary school doesn't say, doesn't stamp your approval of being a chef.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Got it.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

That generation is also here. That's not true. You can go and finish a program and then you're not chef. Um, chef, you can operate, you can think on an on the go, you can manage the numbers. Like I've never gone to school for business, and I've never had anyone to physically teach me um about the business business background of a restaurant. Um, now I've learned some in school, but we all know until you put the pedal to the metal, it doesn't work, right? And so you have to learn how to navigate. Well, that came naturally for me because of the prep. So prepping, understanding time, food costs. Um and that's through hands-on. Everybody don't learn from a book, you know, it's a hands-on learning experience. Then you go to line cook, hopefully. So but different hotels and restaurants, you can be commis chef. Like, like is nothing but another assistant. Uh-huh. Yeah. So it's all assistance. Like, let's just like we can break it down because like we know French leads the like is the brigade system, but we're not living in that world right now. Okay. Like, we're getting away from the French and we're getting more cultural. Got it. People are introducing their culture. We're no longer afraid to introduce our culture. Okay. So you see a lot of soul food restaurants. Yeah. You see um uh African restaurants being recognized. Yeah, it's no longer just like a French and Italian restaurant. Now we wait for Michelin to come around to us, yeah. But we may not need to. We may create our own. We may not even care about it.

SPEAKER_05 29:50

And Michelin is what I like to think is like the Oscars of in the whole film, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:56

So Jay's Beard is like the Oscars.

SPEAKER_05 29:58

I'm sorry, James Beard is the Oscars.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

Oh, and then Michelin would probably be like e got. You got all of them. Got it. Right? Yeah, you got the Emmys, the Grammys, the Oscars, the Antonies. Okay. So, like, and that's how it's uh I love it. That's how it's um pushed over on chefs. So you that's pressure, that's a lot of pressure. Yeah, I've lost a lot of friends to that pressure. Yeah. And so I've decided to redefine like what I want to be awarded. I've also decided to mentally redefine what I want. So if I start on that mental work, everything else will follow.

SPEAKER_05 30:36

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SPEAKER_00 30:47

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SPEAKER_05 31:06

Quick pause. If you're enjoying this conversation, take a second and subscribe to the Black Businesses Matter podcast. It helps us keep telling these stories. Now let's continue. And it's, I think, you know, when we think about rate, so I want to go back to your chef. So then it's the line, chef.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Yeah, so it don't it also just depends. Okay. At a hotel, you got banquet chef, you know, they handle big parties, right? Okay. But they also able to handle restaurants, right? Got it. Um, restaurants, you cook on, you cook on the fly, you cook individually, right? You think about that, you have to be really intentional and individual. Banquets, you can also do the same, but it's more of a batch style. So it's different. Um it's it's no, like it's so many different avenues to go up in the chef. Yeah. It's uh because you have a hotel side, you have a restaurant side, you have the French restaurant side where you'll see Komi Chef. But if you come in my restaurant, you're not gonna see that. Yeah, or if you go into uh Eric's restaurant, you're not gonna see that either. You're not gonna see Komi Chef in it. I I don't think like, I mean, he can correct me if I'm wrong, but I know he probably have executive Sioux, Sue, okay. What's that? What's that? So Sue Chef, uh executive Sioux would be the next from the executive chef. Like they're making um uh they're they're probably the they're the ones that depends. Every restaurant is different, but they're probably the ones that's making the full decisions of the restaurant, like uh on a day-to-day basis. Got it. Executive chefs are taking over what's actually happening and they're talking together and coming up with dishes together. So I would imagine that him and Damar are talking together, right? So create different things.

SPEAKER_05 32:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

Um, even though Eric is the executive chef.

SPEAKER_05 32:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:54

Now I'm not sure who would be under Damar, but he probably has several sous chefs, right? And who will uh who will control each station. So they have a pastry chef. So she probably has someone too, like under her. So all her assistants, if you if you think about it, it takes a lot of team. So I don't like to use just like assistant, but it's taking a lot of team to produce what you to produce that Cajun catfish or like their dishes, you know.

Staffing Reality And True Costs

SPEAKER_05 33:26

Yeah, and that I was talking to my team just just the other day. It's like what makes our podcast different, right? Right. And so I was saying we're gonna we give people the why behind what you do, right? And breaking it down because when they walk in, all they see you sell is food, right? But you just gave us a whole education. Yeah, and you gave us the education behind like everything is different. But we walk in, we walking in like did someone greet us, right? Which is all great from a customer standpoint point, but from your standpoint as an executive chef, a restaurant owner, right, a food translator, you're looking at it all. And everybody is different. And I think that's I think you saying that um is so important because we lump all restaurants all together and think that the same experience that you have down the street, up the street, you know, around the corner, whatever, is the same. And I also want to say this is when you think about it. So I'm gonna ask you this because I was talking to my teammates, how many team members does it take to run your restaurant?

SPEAKER_02 34:37

For mine efficiently? Yeah. Uh and you can use part-timers too. Yeah, efficiently, six. That's good, right? And that's not every day, but that's uh, but uh to be honest with you, it's been ran on four. Okay, and on a day-to-day basis, sometimes it's ran on two. That's me in the front and the back, because things have been shifting, people uh lives are affected in different ways with what's going on in the government, correct? And just like um look, life is happening. Yeah, and so also like the restaurant is not for everyone.

SPEAKER_05 35:13

It's not. So thank you for saying that. Yeah, it's just not for that. Because people believe that, oh well, because I'm a great, because I'm a great chef or I make great meals does not mean you can be a restaurant owner. Matter of fact, I was actually just recently told that it's typically what makes a great chef is having someone who has someone next to them advising to them that really knows the business side to be able to compliment and you get the food, I got your business side, that makes a full-rounded restaurant because you're in some and some people can do both, right? It just depends. But recognizing that those are important to be able to have that, and I love that you said efficiently is six staff, right? But some days it's two, some days it's this. And I think that that's the part of the restaurant that we don't get a chance to see. Like when you, you know, I always talk about the whiz, right? You're in that space, like when you think about the wizard, you're the wizard, right? You're like making it all look pretty, the food is good, you walk in, it's clean, the bathrooms got running water. I mean, all of that, right? And then when they when you open up the curtain, you're like, oh my gosh, it was only three people here today. Yeah, it was.

SPEAKER_02 36:32

Well, that's the other thing. I don't hide it. Um, I tell them because one thing is I don't want the experience to be affected, but also communication is the big thing. So if you communicate with your guests, um, then that I think that brings about the the whole experience. And sometimes it could damper it, but um, they're like, oh, I didn't even know that. Yeah, yeah. Like, well, I'm happy you did. Yeah, but I just wanted to let you know, yeah. So like these, but these are the real life challenges. I'm not one to hide behind um this facade, or I'm no longer living with this cover, this mask to say, yeah, we have it all together. I am the front, the back, the side. Yeah, I shop also because it has to make sense. Yeah, um, purveyors are very expensive. Like, imagine like um honey costing 13 bucks, right? At Costco Business. And I'm a Costco whore.

SPEAKER_05 37:27

So I love it.

SPEAKER_02 37:29

Um, and then you paying uh$20 for the same amount of honey. Right. What? Yeah, that's$7. That's seven, yeah. You know what I could do with seven dollars? I know. So I when I start breaking that down, and then I'm like, why can't we come together as a as a black community? I see this in in Chinatown. They buy together and then they split the cost. They do. You know how much money they save? I know. You know, you know how much stress that can take off of one business, and if we all come together, like we're buying the same thing. Are you using chicken wings? Are you using uh chicken thighs? Well, I use halal. Well, what's the difference from halal? Let's talk about it. Halal is it's the uh it's about the killing, right? The killing of uh of the chicken. It doesn't make it different in in the sense of religion, it does, right? So could we use it? Will it make a difference in flavor? No. So why not? So why can't we band together? Um, so but this is a conversation that we need to have. It is, it is because it's expensive, it is very expensive. But I am the social media person, which I fail at it all the time. Um, I am so thankful for like for those who come to visit um the restaurant and who have shared, who just said, can I do a quick video? And it's a one-minute video. And they edit it. And because editing for me, like I posted a 10-minute video, you know what it said? It's not going to reach people. Well, I ask people to share, and guess what? It reached people. That's what I'm talking about.

Building Community Beyond Social Media

SPEAKER_05 39:03

Because like authenticity and transparency can be currency, yeah. It really can be. I mean, it really can be in this place. So it's this new business in Bronzeville in Chicago. How are you intentionally building community both in person and through digital platforms?

SPEAKER_02 39:25

Digital platforms is me and myself telling them the real thing.

SPEAKER_05 39:29

And that's and that's okay, right? That's being that's being intentional, right? And and building community, right? So you shared it with me earlier, that whole thing with the Dunbar students, right? Yes. So tell us about that.

SPEAKER_02 39:45

So first I want to go back to so building community um in person, which I think is more valuable right now than anything because we're so digitized, like it's it's heartbreaking. Like I like it, but I hate it, you know. And it's is uh it I mean, if you think about it, people are not having dinner together anymore. So we're not bringing our kids to the table. Yeah. So and we need to get back to that. Yeah.

Creating Presence In A Phone World

SPEAKER_05 40:15

So um I that was it's so interesting that you say that I thought that that was a lot of people. Um where I grew up, we had dinner at the we had so we had a kitchen table and we had a dining room table, right? But for like breakfast, we ate in the kitchen table for the most part. For the dinner table, we were able to um have dinner and we could watch TV together, right? But the kitchen was like short meals or small meals, for lack of a better word. But like our big meals, but I like we had dinner for the most part all together, right? It was we were, you know, family of four. And I thought literally, that's how everybody ate. And then people was like, no, I I ate at this time, my mama ate at this time, I didn't eat. I was like, everybody didn't all eat at the same time. And so, which is so weird because like when I used to say growing up, you know, just you day, I'd be like, dinner's ready. So I used to get mad that the other person wasn't ready to eat. Like, even I remember in college, like, okay, I was like, so we're not all doing this together. But I do think that culturally, I thought that was our cult, right? But it's it's just different homes. But I do think that, and what happened there was you got a chance to talk about your homework. You talked like that, was where their day was unloaded, right? And so, um, and so you did talk about the food, like, oh my gosh, this is good or whatever. Now it's we eat, we run, we talk. No, let me tell you what we do. This is what we do. Let me get my meal, right? Okay, oh uh, okay. We're not, we're not even present with the person because everything is within our phones, right? So even when I think about this, and and I'm challenging us uh because I'm thinking, would you ever based on the community, would you ever make and I'm I'm not making this a thing, but I just sat here and thought about it. Would you make your cute cute restaurant a non-tell phone zone?

SPEAKER_02 42:37

Yeah. No, because uh I I think of I think people should have options, but what I do, and it naturally comes, yeah, I always I'm always interrupting someone when they're like texting on the phone. But I also go over there and just have conversations and I sit with them. Yeah, um, sometimes I'm like, can I sit here? And they scoot on over and I join the whole family or I join the date. Um and we talk. And the other thing is like when they come into the restaurant, I don't see many people on their phone because it's so quaint that you can't be on your phone. Yeah, and like you kind of look like an outcast. Yeah, you speak you come in to intentionally like you, you're observing a place of so many little things to observe and ask questions, and then the food itself is an exploration, so you want to explore. So they typically ask for me to come out and share my story. So who is that on the wall? Oh, that's Ernie, that's my grandmother. So if you get anything, Ernie, Ernie's fingers, or you're eating from her fingers, right? So I and then they're like, mm, and then they start talking. That becomes a conversation at the table. Yeah. You know, so I don't really see too much phone. Like, um, so you are intentional, very intentional.

SPEAKER_05 43:53

You're just not announcing it.

SPEAKER_02 43:55

No, right. Um, it's just I allow myself to be just natural. I believe in just. Is being naturally flowy. Yeah. I have people come in by themselves and they come with their book. I have regulars. They come in with their book and they know it, they know the slow time. I'm expecting it.

SPEAKER_05 44:11

Because they come in at their slow time. When I lived in New York, that was exactly what I would have a book and I would eat with the book. That was my life for years.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

So it's this guy that comes in every uh every other weekend, every other Sunday. Now, this last time he came in with his mintee, but he comes in every other Sunday and he orders the same thing and uh a tea. Um he'll order, well, he's been trying like shrimp and grits, the chilly shrimp and grits or the cream and fried chicken, Ernie's breakfast. So he sits there and he first talks and then I see him with his book. After he's eating his food, it's like he's just going through his book. When I see his book close, that's when he wants the check. And it's not even spoken. Like, like we and then I come over there, present the check, and then so we just talked about it a lot. I said, Yeah, I noticed when you close your book, you're ready to go. Yeah, he started laughing. He's like, it's so true. I absolutely that's his time alone. Yeah, you know, that's his time where he settles in with his food, and he also intentionally eats. He doesn't read when he eats. I love it. I love it. Yeah, digestion.

Robots AI And The Future Of Service

SPEAKER_05 45:24

I agree. I don't know what it is with I say this all the time that reading books is calming for me. Um I don't know why. It's just the feeling, the touch, all the things. So you could, I could definitely see that. So when we get into this, so technology, right? We're evolving into this technology world, right? And we're seeing this, whether that's AI, whether it's automation, whatever. It is where do you see the food industry evolving um as it relates to technology?

SPEAKER_02 46:00

Well, um to be honest, like um I I see uh well, I I saw this in um when I lived in Singapore. Um and now we have it here in Chicago. I just saw someone uh has a robot to deliver food. Um but the Asian restaurants have already had the robots to deliver food, and I think that's taken away the personal touch. But to it's it's your thing, so you do what you do. Correct. Um, but I I believe in touching tables and I believe in making that connection because everything is so digitized, like everything is on the phone, everything like I can't talk to the robot and tell the robot that I need more water or um to tell me about this dish or something like that. The dish just came and maybe it was something on there, like, oh, I didn't know that. So I have to wait for the one person to come over, and I get it because of staffing and stuff. Like, like I said, though, sometimes it's just me and another person. And I still uh it's just about being very intentional, and that's also why I kept it small, because I wanted to be able to control the situation if I don't have anyone to help me control the situation.

SPEAKER_05 47:19

So and I and I think that so so when we think about the evolution, right? What I want to know is if we bring the robot, how does that scale the business? Does it?

SPEAKER_02 47:33

Um, I I don't know. I'm I don't know. Yeah, I I think uh it saves on like they may pay the up the upfront costs, right? Upfront costs of the cost of the robot. Because the cost of a robot is expensive. But you save on labor. And then also, you know, in our industry, um, we we're actually, I know someone just spoke about this, uh, how the industry is growing and more people we as we hire, they quit or they get fired. So it's not it's a little bit more sustainable. It's not uh yeah, the robot is more sustainable, maybe for a certain representative.

SPEAKER_05 48:08

But not necessarily the connection, but it's the sustainability. Yeah. It solves a sustainability thing. And I think that that's the thing that even just us as an agency, we've been talking about being more sustainable and not so sustainability does not mean that you're replacing um you know, people for robots. You're just wanting to be sustainable.

SPEAKER_02 48:30

I think in some places they are replacing people for robots, and that's just my opinion. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 48:35

But I mean, people do and let me say this the reason why I've realized that the cost of training, the cost of it's just a lot of it's a plus. So this is what we have to understand is, and I friend of mine said this, all AI is just giving us human plus. You still need a human, but what happens is you could take that one human that's amazing, right? She's your star or he's your star or they are the stars, and so you bring them to be able to train the robots. What it does give you is give you that star player, you give that person more money, right? To be able to train and have a different set of skills that you wouldn't ordinarily have.

SPEAKER_02 49:15

I I can see your point. I would just say, like, I think it's important for human touch right now. I agreed. I agree. That AI, like, but I am like AI and Chat GPT, yes, guess what? It can help me. I don't even like it'll summarize my emails and read it to me. Correct. So I a great thing because I don't have time to go read through them. Correct. I don't have an assistant right now. Correct. So, like, and you know, someone to just sit there and read my like, can I even afford someone to just come in? Like, I'm a I'm actually, I don't have any partners, right? So, and that's the thing. Um, so the creative and the business side comes from one person. So something fails, which is social media right now.

SPEAKER_05 49:55

Correct. Um, but but but that but here's what happens though. The reality, I was talking to uh a restaurant owner, she said what she sought social media was that, and I believe this is the same for you in your business, you have such an amazing experience that your customers are gonna do your social media, and that's what they've been doing. And I'm so grateful.

SPEAKER_02 50:16

Like I literally said thank you to all because I don't have a PR firm either. Like, first of all, that's expensive.

SPEAKER_05 50:21

It is very expensive, it is. I mean, we know that to be one. Um I mean it is, you know, I don't necessarily believe it.

SPEAKER_02 50:28

Oh, I appreciate this platform as well. And that's why I also said to um like in the video I was talking about earlier is that the news outlets, usually you have to have a PR firm behind you. Yeah, I'm glad that that changed. And like I agree with you, and I just made uh like it was intentional connection. They allowed me in, and I'm grateful. You know, it's just yeah.

Why Black Businesses Matter

SPEAKER_05 50:51

This is you know, I'll be if I can be candid with you. I was I always struggle with having food entrepreneurs on the show. Um, not because I don't, it's because I just feel like can we talk for a whole, you know, on that particular thing? We probably went over time, and we did. And I love that. Um, because one of the things that it does is taught me that all of it, I don't even want to get it. I went to a museum and I've learned that oral culture is how we connect, right? And that's African Americans. We were created to have oral culture, and we're letting some some ways technology around that. So I say this as we as we rap. Why do black businesses matter?

SPEAKER_02 51:37

Um, it's important for us to tell our story. The more and more um I learned of the Asian culture, right? The more I see the motherland, African culture. I had an African family, um, they were from West Africa come into the restaurant last week and had the kaya toast. I only learned of Kaya from Singapore. And she, the mother and the kids, but the mother was like, Thank you so much. This felt like home.

unknown 52:09

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 52:10

And for me, like my team, she they came back to uh to grab me because these are the things they've heard me say this over and over again, but these are the things that melt my heart. Like I I could have just like let go tears. I could let go tears now because as I experience things and how people are digesting them and how I'm able to translate them. I never knew that this would translate in this way. My cousin is the one who called me the food translator because I was able to translate cultural dishes um through nostalgic uh memories, right? And she was like, Yeah. And then I coined it last year. So the thing is, I trademarked it. Um, but so it's it's like being able to translate what southern food looks like, feels like, and it still be identifiable, like because is that's important for our our people to be able to identify the food, but then they get into the flavor and like, oh, what's this? Yeah, I never had this before. Yeah, and then they traveling now, right? Yeah, and then they're like, I know what that is. He had that on that fried chicken, yeah, green curry, yeah. You know, they can identify um the shito. That's that's Ghana. Wow. They're able to go to Ghanaian restaurants now, and they or they go into Ghana. Yeah, they go and then they now they're like, I've had that before, yeah, you know, because we're introducing it. Um Haitian culture. Like, first of all, we all are connected.

SPEAKER_05 53:37

We all are connected, we're connected through food, so it's important that. And I say that connected through food, and it's important. Every time I always ask that question, I'm always I always think somebody's gonna say, I don't know. And no one ever says that.

Joy Travel And Food Festivals

SPEAKER_02 53:50

But then um, so what brings you joy? Um, food, people. Um, my vacation is actually like I spent my birthday in Charleston for the food and wine. Charlotte, Charleston said, I want to go there, Claire. Yeah, we were invited for the food and wine the first month we was open, and so I was so grateful. And I did uh That's one that's on my bucket list. I want to go there. It'll be next year, the same time. Okay, okay. The first week of March.

SPEAKER_05 54:18

March weekend march.

SPEAKER_02 54:19

My birthday is March 7th. So literally, I was they were like, So, what did you do for your birthday? I served over 800 people the uh Kuma Pepper Boudin. Wow! And they were like, This is the best food I've had here. That's awesome. And yeah, and like Chef Juke was there from Chicago, or he owns Frontier and IMA. Oh, okay. And what's crazy is he just jumped right in. It's like I like I'm very authentic in how I come and what I say. And people may think, well, why are you giving this person so much praise? It was your food. Let me tell you, it's like it's a it was as if God told him, go help her. He still had on his book bag, he laid his book bag down, and we danced as if we practiced this in the kitchen, and he literally, I had just got there because my flight was delayed, canceled several times, but it was good for me to be there. And we danced like we had two steps before we even got there. Wow, that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 55:17

Yeah, like the food and wine is one of my bucket lists because I'm a foodie, but I'm really an experienced girl. So if you got me a good experience, I'm gonna enjoy the food and all the other things that come with it, the wine. All of it. I want it all. It was a great experience. I want it, I hear nothing but great things. Um, so tell the people how they can connect to you.

SPEAKER_02 55:44

You guys can follow me at Dixipora. Dixipora. Dixie Pora. D-I-X-I-E-P-U-R-A. And you can also follow me at Dixie Pora Kitchen, which is the restaurant. D-I-X-I- Um D-I-D-I-X-I-E-P-U-R-A Kitchen, all one word. And you can also come visit us um at 325 East Persian Road in Chicago Bronzeville neighborhood. And the other thing is that we're offering the translation piece is also to offer the what's traditionally European, right? The teas, the high teas. Well, we have high teas now. You no longer have to go to the peninsula. No shade. I love the shade, but we have it in our parking, just sort of fix it. And it's free parking on the south side, right? And it works. And it's an experience. So and um also we'll be having family, uh, family Sunday, uh, Sunday dinners on Sundays. So we won't be open every Sunday anymore. Nice. So our I'll give you our new hours and everything. Oh nice, but yeah, we'll be having Sunday dinner at a fixed price just to gather the community. So the intentionality I was talking about, I love it. We're gonna come together because everybody is uh Chicago's a milking pot. It is definitely there. Come on in and the bars open, but that fixed price just allow me to do uh like do what I do and love that.

SPEAKER_05 57:05

I love it. And it's free parking. And it's free parking, yes. Because I think there's that, I think there's a plus to that. I mean, people, if you're gonna spend money, good food, parking can decide your your decision be like, well, I don't feel like dealing with parking.

SPEAKER_02 57:20

And then we're only 10 minutes from uh downtown. I mean that part of the green line, the red line, the lake. All of it. All love it today. Literally President Obama live. Come on down, come down or you go or come after.

SPEAKER_05 57:38

Yeah, make a reservation. Matter of fact, reservations.

SPEAKER_02 57:43

Um, how do people um do reservations? So we're actually transitioning to Resie, but right now you can still make it at um DixiePorrow.com and um reservation link. And you can also visit my um my social media and go right in those links and it's all there.

SPEAKER_05 57:59

Yeah, and I did all the things, got my reservation. We showed up. We did, we even had we were running late. We we reached out to them. I mean, so just from a response, I want people to understand things happen and make sure that there is someone that is responding that you can get back. It's not a robot, guys, but it is somebody there that's responding. Yes, and sometimes you get me on the phone. Sometimes you do. Oh my gosh, this has been amazing. I'm telling you, I'm always nervous about food, and it just sits here and I'm just like, oh my gosh, I can keep talking about this.

SPEAKER_02 58:30

Yeah, like I can keep talking, but I can't- Well, I like that this was just an authentic conversation because I really didn't know what like exactly we were gonna talk about. I did the questionnaire and everything, but I didn't know. And then the thing, the one thing about me is I'm always open. Um, I'm also writing a book. And yeah, because I it's so many layers, like so many things I want to go into. So you saw how we had to shift and stuff. Because like it can be a long, it's a long story, it's uh it's a journey.

Share The Story And Closing

SPEAKER_05 58:57

And let me say this I struggle with this um to all of my guests, like, okay, what's next for BBM? And I said, while I'm not, you know, my competitor. I used to say that our competitors are every network. It's not because every network's gonna cut you off in six minutes. My network, I don't have a network, right? My network is me and my team, right? To be able to tell that story. And that story is what carries us every episode after every after every episode. And I struggle with that because people are like, oh, you gotta get it shorter. And I've said to myself, but that's the networks. They are being, right? It's the advertising. So no one knows your whole story. And so our whole goal in this next episode of Evolution is to share this episode, right? So letting people know that while you listen to this, while you hear it, um, an amazing food entrepreneur, food translator, restaurant owner in Chicago, share the episode. The one thing that you do is you share this episode to learn about where you can get fine cuisine in Chicago, but more importantly, you get to hear the story, right? You get to sit down and hear the whole, you get to sit down and eat someplace where you know the story. Not just I won the award, but you get to hear that story. That's unique to us. So, this episode, if it resonated with you, if it was something that you want to put on your on your list as a tour guide, hold it, save it, share it, whatever you need to do. Yeah, follow us. Black businesses matter. We're here to make sure. And one thing we say, we're here every day, every way. When we say every day, every way, we're not here for just one month for to celebrate Women's History Month. And we love that in Black History Month, we love that in Black women's history. We love all of it. But wouldn't it be amazing if you can go and log on any time of the day and just hear stories, real life stories, real life stories of founders, entrepreneurs, food geniuses, all of that in one place to be able to build on whether you're building your business or you're looking to fund a business, whatever it is, invest, whatever you're doing, you get to dial in. So follow us, Black Businesses Matter Podcast. And thank you for tuning in to another episode of Black Businesses Matter. See you next week.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:28

The Black Businesses Matter Podcast is produced by the L3 Agency, a culturally sensitive influencer, marketing, and communications firm in Chicago, where relationships are our currency.