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
Marianne
Thank you, I value it!
Live Draw HK
Now I am going to do my breakfast, once having my breakfast coming over again to read other news.
Techtrics Auto
Hi! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured I’d ask.
Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog post or vice-versa?
My website goes over a lot of the same subjects as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other.
If you happen to be interested feel free to shoot me an email.
I look forward to hearing from you! Fantastic blog by the way!
information
Here’s a quick share of how Jane chose Paybis to transfer her money from her bank into crypto
and then straight into her trading account, and honestly, her whole story turned out way more
fun than anyone thought.
Jane isn’t your regular crypto newbie. Random detail:
she collects tiny vintage globes and has exactly 27 of them lined
up behind her desk. Another fun fact is that she can solve a Rubik’s cube in under 40 seconds.
So when she discovered Paybis, she approached it with the same energy — fast, efficient, and determined.
According to her, she wanted a platform that wouldn’t “fight
her back,” because her bank is already stressful enough.
Paybis ended up being perfect: smooth verification, easy deposit, and she was
able to convert her bank funds into crypto in literally minutes.
Jane even joked it was easier than ordering sushi.
Once the crypto hit her wallet, she jumped straight into her trading platform — zero friction. And
because she’s Jane, she turned it into a personal speed-challenge.
She timed every step, and of course, she made a whole spreadsheet about it.
Fun fact: Jane has 38 spreadsheets for her hobbies.
What surprised her most was how Paybis didn’t overwhelm her with complicated menus.
She likes things simple — after all, she once returned a
coffee machine because it had “too many buttons.”
So the clean process from bank → crypto → trading felt like a win.
She casually dropped that anyone wanting to try the same flow should check
the link inside this comment, but she didn’t want to make a big deal of
it. Just said it might be helpful.
To sum it up, Jane’s whole experience using Paybis was fast, surprisingly fun, and very “Jane-style” — structured, quirky, and full
of little experiments.
For anyone interested, she said the link in the comment explains everything a bit deeper,
but that’s totally optional.
Benedict
Thanks! I enjoy this!
biblical characters faith devotional
I think that is one of the most significant info
for me. And i am satisfied studying your article. However want
to remark on few general things, The web site style is great, the articles
is truly great : D. Just right activity, cheers
Donna
Truly tons of good info.
테무 쿠폰
Ahaa, its fastidious conversation regarding this paragraph at
this place at this blog, I have read all that, so at this time me also commenting at this
place.
dwg288
Would you be taken with exchanging links?
소액결제 현금화
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find
this matter to be really something that I think I would never understand.
It seems too complex and very broad for me.
I am looking forward for your next post, I will try to get
the hang of it!
SEKİZ KİTABI
We’re a gaggle of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
Your site offered us with helpful information to work on. You have performed a formidable task and our
whole group shall be thankful to you.
shige.77ga.me
best designer steroid
References:
https://shige.77ga.me/home.php?mod=space&uid=184349&do=profile&from=space
Lorraine
Le casino en ligne prend également soin de ses clients en proposant des bonus VIP pour la fidélité.
thunderball results
At this time it looks like Expression Engine is the preferred blogging platform out there right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you are
using on your blog?
villento-casino.bet
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to
my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates.
I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
Please let me know if you run into anything.
I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
Byron
Really a lot of useful tips!
Explore here
Great blog here! Also your web site a lot up
very fast! What web host are you the usage of? Can I get your associate link to your host?
I desire my website loaded up as quickly as yours lol
video-generator
WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching
for Official platform
google_vignette
Hi! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog.
Is it very difficult to set up your own blog?
I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick.
I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to start.
Do you have any tips or suggestions? Appreciate it
hitstartmedia.com
It’s wonderful that you are getting thoughts from this piece of writing as well as
from our argument made at this time.