Yahoo Finance Petersburg: New minority-owned restaurant will serve Caribbean-American fusion cuisine
PETERSBURG — A restaurant named after a free-spirited person who follows their heart and chooses the righteous path over wealth or material gain will open soon in Old Towne. Soul Rebel is a certified small, micro, minority-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned business will serve a unique blend of Caribbean-American fusion cuisine.
Soul Rebel will not only be a place where people can get great food, but it intends to be a platform for uplifting the community. Kofi and Shareem Annan, owners of Soul Rebel, recently purchased a home in Centre Hill. The new Petersburgers plan to amaze diners with their Caribbean-American fusion cuisine. Annan's mom was his initial teacher, but he mostly learned to cook by being driven by his passion for creating and innovating.
"We will serve some traditional Caribbean meals like jerk, oxtail and curry but will also serve fusion dishes like Jerk-BBQ burgers and tacos and guava-buffalo wings," Kofi Annan said. "Our jerk and Jerk-BBQ items are the most popular. The pineapple-mango habanero wings are also crowd-pleasers."
The Annans make all of their sauces in-house from scratch. They decided to bottle them for those looking to take the experience home. At this time, they offer seven sauces: Pineapple-mango Glaze [mild], Pineapple-mango Blaze [hot], Jerky-Q [Jerk-BBQ], Buffalo Solja [guava-buffalo wing sauce], Dat Fiya and Dat Mo' Fiya [jerk marinades], Rice Spice and Irie Mambo [a tropical twist on DC's favorite dipping sauce]. The Caribbean-American fusion sauces and marinades may be purchased online.
Petersburg restaurant: Soul Rebel
Why did the Annans choose Old Towne Petersburg as the location of their first brick-and-mortar?
"Both of our sons attended VSU. Omari, our oldest, graduated last year, and Jaden, our youngest, is currently a sophomore," Shareem Annan said. "We found Petersburg to be a very charming city with loads of opportunity and potential. The people made us feel like family from the very beginning."
Prior to moving to Petersburg, the Annans operated a food truck for over two years in Northern Virginia until April 2023. As I researched Soul Rebel, I came across a "Lime Time with Kofi" video. I thoroughly enjoyed it. He prepared island gumbo and shared an in-depth conversation with fellow food truck operator Ms. T from Memaw's Table about how to start and run a food truck business. If you would like to see him cook and/or are thinking about opening a food truck, watch the video posted February 7, 2022 on Facebook @SoulRebelFood.
The Soul Rebel food truck will be out and about during warmer months in and around Petersburg and Richmond including Virginia State University and Fort Gregg-Adams. The food truck will be available for private events.
Soul Rebel restaurant: Owners Kofi and Shareem Annan
Kofi was born in Guyana and moved to Washington DC when he was twelve. Shareem is a native New Yorker. They are both proud HBCU graduates. Shareem is a graduate of Howard University and Kofi graduated from Tennessee State University.
"I am not a trained chef, but I've always had a love for cooking, and Shareem enjoys entertaining," Kofi said. "After about twenty years in the military and intelligence community, I decided I wanted to pursue a dream of opening a restaurant during the pandemic. Like many others, the pandemic served as a motivator to go after my dreams given the uncertainty about the future."
In Northern Virginia, Shareem and Kofi were heavily involved in racial and social justice work.
"I served as the president of the Fairfax County NAACP, and Shareem serves on Sigma Gaama Rho Sorority, Inc.'s Legislative Action Committee," Kofi said. "I aim to create an environment where we not only celebrated Afro-Caribbean and Afro-American culture, but also incorporate a culture of justice and uplifting the most vulnerable among us into Soul Rebel's foundation."
Kofi provided high level inspiration for the artwork and décor during the renovation at 106 W. Old St., but he mostly let the professionals do their thing. The wall to the right as you walk in the door has a colorful mural with a Caribbean carnival/American marching band blend which emphasizes the fusing element of the restaurant.
The partners in life and business plan to turn diners into loyal patrons by providing unique food with either reggae, soul or rhythm and blues music in the background.
"We make everything from scratch. Everything will taste unique and authentic," Kofi said. "To make it a fun experience for diners, we will also offer live entertainment."
Soul Rebel with the tagline "Caribbean roots, American soul" will offer delivery, take out, catering and reservations for large groups. The dining/bar area will seat 49 people. It will be open Monday - Thursday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. and Friday - Saturday 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. The new restaurateurs plan to hire seven or eight people soon and a few more during food truck season.
Sit tight y'all, and get ready to taste the revolution around mid-February. Visit soulrebelfood.com for more information.
What's your favorite Girl Scout Cookie? Girl Scout Cookie season is upon us: Check out 2024 lineup, find cookie booth
'We always knew she'd make it to 100' Chester woman joins elite rank of centenarians, enjoys 100th birthday bash: Read Q & A
Kristi K. Higgins aka The Social Butterfly, an award-winning columnist, is the trending topics and food Q&A reporter at The Progress-Index voted the 2022 Tri-Cities Best of the Best Social Media Personality. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Contact Kristi (she, her) at khiggins@progress-index.com, follow @KHiggins_PI on X and @socialbutterflykristi on Instagram.
Your support is vital to local journalism. Please subscribe.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg restaurant will serve Caribbean-American fusion cuisine
