Black Restaurant Week launches in Philadelphia
Besides restaurant specials, organizers will stage a discussion, a dinner, and a cocktail competition.
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Black Restaurant Week, founded in Houston three years ago to showcase African American, African, and Caribbean cuisines, will set up in Philadelphia for the first time from June 10 to 17. (And it is official. Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown issued a city proclamation.)
It's also more than simply a list of restaurants and specials, said Falayn Ferrell, an organizer and cocreator.
Aroma, a culinary panel discussion about the challenges of the restaurant industry, will be held 6 to 8 p.m. June 11 at the Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia. Besides the Houston-based Ferrell, panelists are Darlene Jones of Star Fusion in Overbrook, chef Chris Paul of the meal-prep service Everything We Eat, and Ben Fileccia of Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association. The Enterprise Center's Tiffany Spaggins-Payne will moderate. Tickets are $20; info is here.
Art of Flavor will be a dinner at the African American Museum in Center City at 6 p.m. June 12. Chef Kurt Evans of South restaurant — also known for his End Mass Incarceration dinner series — will cook four courses with wine pairings. It's $85 a ticket; info is here.
At Power of the Palate on June 14, bartenders will compete in a cocktail competition at Haute Lounge in Center City. It's $20; info is here.
Ferrell said organizers hope to step up the event next year by adding a second week, as has been done in Houston and Oakland. Other weeks are held in Atlanta, New Orleans, and Dallas.