Thursday, August 24, 2006

"There can be only one!"









I can almost hear the voice behind the premise of the popular (sci - fi) movie and television series Hilander, proclaiming to the immortal warriors that are to engage in battle each time they come face to face with one another, at the final battle, "there can be only one!" remaining as ruler of the universe. This story wreaks of that premise. It appears that I, Eric Austin (aka Chef E aka Big E), am being confused with one Mr. James Eric Walker, who also calls himself "Big E" It seems to me that there was no newspaper, radio or television mention of Mr. Walker before I coined the recognizable name with my first restaurant "Big E's Soul Food".


Since then, Mr Walker has gained a particular amount of notoriety with using the name, some good, and some not so good... which brings me to my point. Recently in a Star Tribune article posted August 16th, 2006 in CJ's column, the headline reads "Big E and date have a bad night at Trocaderos..." While attending the restaurant / club, Mr. Walker, founder of a Minneapolis African American networking club called "First Fridays" and his date had allegedly recieved poor service (I don't know, I wasn't there) and vowed never to host the group there again. In any event, people all over Minneapolis have been coming to me asking me why I caused such a scene. We are not the same Big E, although I can see why people would think that from reading the name. What other Big E could they be talking about, right? While we both share the name, the issue becomes who can be most associated with it? Well, we would have to go into things like when did people first start calling each of us Big E, or which one of us is oldest and has sported the title longer. My contention is this; Google, yahoo or city search the name Big E's Soulfood and the search engine goes on and on. There's not one mention that I saw readily of Mr. Walker. Hey! whatever the case, when you say the name
BIG E around Minneapolis, people think soulfood! As well they should because really, THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!!! Sorry James.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

"Say It Loud!"
















Something has been disturbing me for awhile, about the sometimes lowly image "soul food" connotates in some people's mind whenever they think of the term or the cuisine. Everything from, isn't that only what you people eat? or, what's the big deal about chicken and watermelon? and what makes your soul food so special? has been asked me by patrons in my restaurant and on the street among some folks in my own African American community.
Even some of the images that I place on the walls of my restaurant have been at issue - one in particular which shows the layout of slaves on a slave ship. One person once asked me if I thought it put people off while eating. Look, it is part of my heritage and shows how far we've come as a people - we are survivors. I have never gone into a French or Italian restaurant and thought that about French or Italian scenes on their walls. I have never once thought while placing the order for my fried rice that "it looks entirely too Chinese in here, I can't possibly eat here!"
Soulfood has a rich history, steeped in tradition and quilted in the fabric of America. It is the food that my ancestors (African slaves) developed out of throw away scraps, wilted field greens and left over grain (after most of the livestock had been fed first) Yet from these lowly beginnings, our grandmother's formed a cuisine that was not only delectable and gastronomic genius, but able to sustain generations on very little means, feeding not only your body but your very soul.
I spoke to a young (African American) man in my community one day who said that he was disturbed that in one of the advertisements he saw me in, I was holding a plate of fried chicken in one hand and a watermelon in the other. "Doesn't that give (white) people the wrong image of us?" he asked. "Do you eat fried chicken?" I asked him. "Yes!" he replied. "Do you only sit around and eat it in the dark and in closets?" "What? No man, that's crazy!" he replied. "Of course you don't, and neither do I. And I'll let you in on a not so secret thing, neither does anyone else who comes to my restaurant and eat it - black white or other" I wonder if he would have been taken back by the image of a person of Italian descent eating spaghetti or Mexican eating a burrito. Anyway, he seemed to get it and walked away satisfied of the answer he'd recieved.


We (the African American culture) wouldn't be here without it, and I am thankful to all of those ancestoral master chef's before me. Everytime I step into my kitchen, I think of how far I can push the envelope of what defines Soul Food. Where it has come from and how far I can take it. This passion is about the food, it's a beautiful thing!. If you've ever visted my restaurant and tasted the Watermelon Chardonnay Ice and some Honey Teriyaki, Carribean Jerk or Buttermilk soul wings, you'd wonder why everyone wasn't eating fried chicken and watermelon. So continue to cook well, eat well and be well folks.
If you have some information out there for the hungry minded that read this blog and want to know more about Heritage Cooking or Soul Food Cooking in America, share your favorite books and references with them (and with me too - tell me what you know) It's not a family secret anymore folks - SAY IT LOUD!

Sunday, August 13, 2006

"A Taste of the past and present"
Tribute to Mr. Ernest C. Withers



"I look for things of time and value. None of my images deal in violence - they deal in time."
Ernest C. Withers has been a practicing photographer for more than 60 years and still maintains a Beale Street studio in Memphis, Tennessee.
He documented the Civil Rights movement as well as the southern entertainment and social scenes during the 1950's and 60's. Well known and trusted, Withers often traveled with and photographed Martin Luther King, Medgar Evars and James Meredith.




His closeness gave him a unique view of the events and people that shaped the course of American history.
In 1988, Withers entered the Black Press Hall of Fame and is the recipient of the Gordon Parks Legend Award.
I had the privelege of breaking bread with Mr. Ernest C. Withers in my humble restaurant. He is such an important documentor of human events that I knew I had become a viewable part of Black American history when he raised his camera toward me. On an autographed photo he left behind, the inscription read: "You are so great to me Big E, love and regards Ernest C Withers."


He ate the very best Catfish Nicois Salad that I could prepare for him.

-Chef E

Saturday, August 12, 2006



"Think Emeril, but add soul"

Everyone seems to be wondering what I've been up to since closing the restaurant. For awhile, the question bothered me. I'd be out at a social event or bar with my friends and there was always a barrage of "Hey, Big E, what cha doing now?, or where are you cooking these days? Then I rethought the matter. Instead of being annoyed I became grateful. Afterall, they could not be wondering. So, with that in mind here's the latest...
Back in Febuary of this year, I went on a casting call for a television reality cooking show called "Recipe for Disaster" through a production company called Kitchen Rescue (they're listed in my links and on my web site) The concept for this particular show is to see whether a gourmet meal could be created using the change found under your couch cushion (provided that it's about $10 or so) from the local convenient store like Super America or 7 Eleven. We shot in Milwaukee Wisconsin so the store of choice was The Open Pantry (similar) Anyway think cooking idiot meets Iron Chef. That's where I come in. How does this relate to soul food? Well, the whole concept reminds me of how my grandmother would open what seemed like an empty kitchen pantry, and within a couple of hours come up with the biggest soul feast you could imagine.
That's what soulfood is, making something spectacular with little means. Slave mammies did it with throw away scraps and now they are making shows about it. Imagine that. So, I'm able to take the foundation of my grandmother's soulful attitude, along with my formal culinary training and combine the two. Just think Emeril, but add soul.
The veiwing networks gave such a positive response to my performance that there is even talk of a spin - off show featuring "your's truly" called Chef E's Soul Kitchen, and a host of E-books and kitchenware merchandise with my John Hancock on them. Once again, visit the site for further updates from the producers regarding where it will air, and network. I know that they're in negotiation now with several networks, but that's not my end of it, so I have to wait just like you. My job is to show up, cook an amazing dish and be pretty ( I'm ready for my close up Mr. Deville)
Oh, there's also the fact that the show is being hosted by one of the Girls of Maxim Magazine (fellows, you know the one) I assured my wife that it was a job like any other, and that I would suffer through it :)
Check out the link and tell me what you think. "It's a beautiful thing" (It's no BAM!, but it's mine)

-Chef E

Thursday, August 10, 2006




"Dang it!"

Since this is the first official Chef E blog, I thought I'd start by explaining a few things about the restaurant's closing. Everyone's speculated, but allow me to set the record straight before continuing with the next phase of Chef E's Soul Food Restaurant.
As many of you know, we started out with only five tables, but with one of the most ambitious soul food menus in Minneapolis. From the very beginning we were under - funded. In fact, when we opened our doors, we were already minus more capitol than most start-up restaurants. In spite of all of this, we became very successful in a very short time. So much so that folks lined up for nearly 2 hours on one occasion just to sit at a table. At the time, Soul City Supper Club (a 150 seat soul themed supper joint) opened right next door to me in an effort to push me off the block and buy me out. This attempt failed. Still they had the two things that I needed to grow - space and a liquor license. People began coming to my establishment to eat or take out, and go next door to drink and dance. Then, unfortunately, because more and more people started wanting to sit inside Big E's, my take-out numbers started to suffer. This caused me to take on the first set of partners -The Kassab family - a group of Middle Eastern small convenience and gyro store owners. This marriage was arranged by the bank and I had little say in the fact that they now owned the bulk of the shares. Our management styles and philosophies were completely different. They wanted to run the restaurant as if it were one of their gyro shops (with cheap inventory, substitutions and rudeness) Oh, I nearly forgot... A COMPLETE IGNORANCE OF THE FOOD THEY WERE SERVING! When I could stand no more, I walked out (literally) Exit Big E from Big E's and enter JASON DANG.
He had acquired the Soul City Supper Club next door and was having a lot of difficulty keeping the doors open. So here's the beginning of the end. We struck a deal that I would utilize his (empty) space by providing my menu and name, while he would run all aspects of the bar. Like the previous partners before him, he promised that creative control would rest in my hands - since the formula already worked. And, like the previous partners the "Piracy" soon began. Mr. Dang began taking credit for the entire restaurant. Those of you that have visited the restaurant, know that it is my wife MELANIE that does most of the artwork. She and I collaborate on all of the design ideas of the restaurant. Yet Mr. Dang took full credit for the restaurant's motif. He even went as far as taking credit for the menu and the recipes, stating that he gathered them all from growing up the only Vietnamese family in black neighborhoods in Chicago and compiling soul food dishes as he picked them up (an outright untruth he later revealed to me that he used to make his African American customers more forgiving of his Asian family owning a soul food establishment) Read more about this in an article published in an Asian community news weblog (AAJA Link Blog "Food Porn" August 16th, 2005)
  • aajalink.blogspot.com

  • So, for the second time... Exit Big E from Chef E's Soul Food and Blues.
    Shortly after, I read an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune by CJ (local gossip columnist) that read with all of the "food fights" I had with two sets of partners, maybe the real problem was me. Well, she's right! If it comes down to serving quality soul food with good old fashioned Southern hospitality then I'm morally bankrupt for wanting to do so versus calling my customers stupid, or exploiting them... yeah - I'm the problem.
    But enough, that's all I have to say about that whole mess. On to bigger, better and more hospitable times with the re-opening of a new Chef E's Soul Food Restaurant. Back when folks thought to themselves, "Now that young man was raised right!" Besides, I hear the third time's a charm!

    - Chef E