Battle Of The Chefs Promotes Community In Dwight

It was a battle of Afrotina​’s Latin-flavored southern cuisine versus Eat Up​’s Italian-inspired soul food cuisine: Chef Ohioma Odihirin’s Sazon chicken took on Chef Bryan Burkett-Thompson’s mumbo chicken, and Chef O’s homemade Voodoo sauce vied with Chef BB’s pineapple salsa. 

That contest took place Saturday afternoon at the first annual Battle of the Chefs at Kenia Massey’s Black Corner Store on Edgewood Avenue.

The big winner of the day, staged in the store’s backyard as the T‑shirts of the Eat Up team read, was community, as a host of activities in addition to the official cook-off brought neighbors together.

The event’s primary mission was ​“to bring a neighborhood back together through food, music, and entertainment,” Massey, aka ​“Ms. Kay,” said as roughly 35 guests enjoyed the dueling dishes at picnic tables amid a mesquite aroma wafting through the late-April air. 

Each guest had paid $30 for the feast, the entertainment, the camaraderie, and the right to decide whose dishes would prevail. Funds raised will go back into the operation of the Black Corner Store, Massey said.

The event was a natural extension of the mission of the store, which Massey and her husband Michael opened last June. In addition to the snacks, sweets, and accessories lining the shelves, they serve free meals to children and offer clothing, toys, and shoes to anyone in need.

“Switch!” emcee Ife Michelle Gardin called out during the cook-off. ​“Now, everybody on this side will get Eat Up’s chicken, and everybody on that side will get Afrotina’s.”

She instructed the crowd to record their preference on a card, along with any comments or thoughts. 

Jim Nicholas of the Black Business Alliance was among the three judges, along with the popular Connecticut food blogger Allison Carasone, and Topic King of Harp’s Bar & Grille in West Haven.

Comedian Melissa ​“Mizz Conduct” Elmore performed at the event as well.

“I think this is a phenomenal idea,” Elmore said after her act, which covered topics ranging from her weight-loss woes to dating tips to her travails as a single mother. 

“Nowadays, folks need a push. They’ve been in the house for so long, people are accustomed to doing their own thing. So now it’s like: Let’s get outside. Let’s reconnect,” she said.

Over on the Platt Street side of the corner store, Dawn Taylor-Groom of D.L.T.G. Groom Collection, assisted by her son Gregory Byrd, was vending her homemade bracelets, hairpins, rings, and earrings. 

“I love this idea of getting people together, because it gets people out and you get to know people and socialize,” said Taylor-Groom, who lived on Edgewood Avenue for over 18 years.

“People, get some bling from Dawn for church tomorrow,” Gardin was saying from the backyard. ​“And for those of you ready for dessert, check out the peach cobbler.” 

The peach cobbler was from Carleene Lake’s Peachy Leen, which was also offering vegan ice cream and cake cups. On Lake’s head was a crown. It was her birthday.

“My ice cream is vegan. I don’t use a lot of sugar,” she said. ​“And I do my own twist on cake cups.” 

“Peach cobbler for my sister, my cousin, and myself,” Marvena Best told her, as Lake’s mother, Adjoe Gzifa, handed out samples to customers. 

“We’re getting exposure because we have something to offer,” Lake said, adding that The Black Corner Store was interested in selling her ice cream. 

By then, spoken word poet Tahj Galberth was performing ​“Racially Charged” in the backyard. 

“I came from the spray of firehoses from a country that craved free speech/
I came from the life of a house maid who had to raise a white family’s children instead of her own,” he recited. 

“Spaces like these are where I feel most comfortable,” he said afterward, as he finished a small plate of Afrotina’s Sazon chicken. ​“Any spaces where community is able to commune is really nice and not only to network, but to share space and learn about what someone else is about.”

“And they gave us food too,” poet Jaala Welch said with a smile: she had just performed her poem ​“Body.” ​“And both dishes were so good.” 

“Thank you, Miss Kay, for community,” emcee Gardin was saying. ​“And we want to say happy birthday to the beautiful cake lady.”

Everyone cheered.

“Could you put on the Stevie Wonder one?” Gardin asked DJ R‑NICE. ​“In this community, we sing the Stevie Wonder version.” 

Everyone broke into full-throated happy birthday song.

“Did everyone get something to eat?” Gardin asked when the song was over. ​“Did everyone get their cards in?”

Meanwhile, the Masseys headed into the store to tabulate the votes. ​“It was all good.” 

With that, DJ Ryan turned up the tunes. Several in the crowd grooved to The Wobble. A father in a Didi Gregorius Yankees jersey played with his infant daughter.

“That’s my cardio for the day,” said Elmore, the comedian, as she collapsed into her place at the picnic table, a wide grin on her face. 

Fifteen minutes later, Gardin was calling for order.

“This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for,” she announced. ​“The vote was close, which means everyone liked everything.” 

The result: Eat Up took home both trophies, prevailing in the critical and popular vote for its mumbo chicken with black bean cilantro rice and pineapple salsa. 

“But that Voodoo sauce,” Gardin added, referring to the topping on Afrotina’s Sazon chicken with herb rice and corn. ​“That is where it’s at.”

Massey, who’s also an event planner, said her plan is to produce Battle of the Chefs on a regular basis.

“Hopefully, next year we have 20 of these events in a bigger spot,” she said. 

“I love the fact that Ms. Kay is always thinking about good things to do, and making sure everyone’s a little more aware and everyone’s also comfortable and feeling safe,” said neighbor Marinda Hannans, referring to Massey. 

“There’s just a good feeling all over today.”