New Black Owned Business: A Young DC Chef Creates His Own Path
You can never have too many wings, or too much sauce. When that Henny Mumbo sauce hit my lips I was beyond excited to try the rest of the menu. The kitchen at Unity Lounge has only been open a few weeks, but this will be my new wing spot.
Originally from the Bronx, NY, Chef Jaquaun Blackwell started working part time at HalfSmoke while in school at Howard University. Though he majored in marketing, his love of cooking grew and he made the decision to stay on at HalfSmoke after graduation. He learned his professional work ethic at HalfSmoke and worked his way up to sous-chef. Chef Jaquaun then moved on to another well known DC restaurant, KitchenCray Cafe, where he was able to hone his skills in the kitchen.
After less than two years at KitchenCray, Chef Jaquaun was presented with a great opportunity to run the kitchen at Cloud Lounge. He was working at Cloud when the pandemic hit the DC area. While waiting to return to the workforce, Chef Jaquaun decided to stop waiting, and started his own catering company, TPK, in May, providing catering. He was not discouraged by the effects of the pandemic. As he says, “people are still eating everyday.”
Once restrictions began to lift around the city, Chef Jaquaun secured the head chef position at Unity Lounge. Chef Jaquaun is serving up five different flavors of wings, a variety of tacos, lobster, lamb chops, just too many mouthwatering dishes to name. The Henny Mumbo Wings are slathered with a scratch made sauce. The flavor is reminiscent of a classic DC mumbo sauce with a delightful twist. The wings themselves were moist and tender. (A regular order is eight wings.) The Fried Lobster Tacos are a customer favorite. Lobster claws in a toasted tortilla, topped with fresh pico de gallo made by the chef, and drizzled with a sriracha aioli. The lobster meat was nice and tender. The red onion in the pico gives these tacos a nice bite. (A full order includes three tacos, or you can mix and match.)
Now for the entrée. I tried the Creamy Garlic Tuscan Salmon and Crab Pasta. This was such a generous portion, I almost didn’t know where to begin. The fettuccine pasta is full of mushrooms, spinach, and sun dried tomatoes. If that wasn’t enough, the pasta is topped with salmon, which is then topped with lump crab meat. The salmon was cooked to perfection, the crab on top was well seasoned, and sun dried tomatoes were a really nice touch.
Since starting his own business Chef Jaquaun brought on partner and friend Ronnie Gipson. Ronnie handles all of the business while Chef Jaquaun handles the cooking. Ronnie loves the Henny Mumbo Wings, the lobster tacos are also a favorite, as well as the pasta when he’s craving something heavier. Chef Jaquaun’s favorite is the lamb chops because he can easily prepare them a variety of ways. Though he loves lamb chops, he enjoys cooking seafood, and aspires to open a seafood restaurant one day in the future. Chef Jaquaun had his first job at the age of nine and doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.
Unity Lounge is open for dine-in and carry out service. Takeout is also now available through UberEats. You can follow Chef Jaquaun at Kitchen at Unity Lounge DC. For catering services follow the Chef on his personal page.
Discover more from Flights and Foods
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
5,592 Comments
GOCA
One thing I’d really like to touch upon is that weightloss routine fast can be achieved by the right diet and exercise. Someone’s size not simply affects appearance, but also the quality of life. Self-esteem, depressive disorders, health risks, and physical abilities are damaged in fat gain. It is possible to just make everything right but still gain. In such a circumstance, a problem may be the culprit. While an excessive amount food instead of enough work out are usually the culprit, common medical conditions and widespread prescriptions can certainly greatly increase size. I am grateful for your post here.
ceritoto
Excellent post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am impressed! Extremely helpful information particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such info much. I was seeking this particular information for a long time. Thank you and best of luck.
JELLO DIET
JELLO DIET
JELLO DIET
GELATIN TRICK RECIPE
slot gacor
of course like your web-site but you have to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to tell the reality on the other hand I¦ll surely come back again.
link
I do agree with all of the ideas you’ve presented in your post. They are very convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are very short for starters. Could you please extend them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.
ceritoto
I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to see a nice blog like this one nowadays..
audifort review
you may have an excellent weblog right here! would you like to make some invite posts on my weblog?
slot depo 5k
This is the suitable blog for anyone who desires to seek out out about this topic. You understand so much its nearly hard to argue with you (not that I truly would want…HaHa). You positively put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just nice!
situs slot
Someone essentially assist to make critically posts I would state. This is the very first time I frequented your web page and up to now? I amazed with the research you made to make this particular post extraordinary. Wonderful job!