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
MALWARE
I like the helpful information you supply on your articles.
I’ll bookmark your weblog and take a look at again here regularly.
I’m quite certain I will learn lots of new stuff right
here! Best of luck for the following!
kaya303 link
Hey! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice 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 fast. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do
you have any points or suggestions? With thanks
kontol
Hello to all, how is all, I think every one is getting more from this web site,
and your views are pleasant designed for new people.
access here
naturally like your web-site however you need
to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Many of them
are rife with spelling issues and I find it very troublesome to inform the
truth nevertheless I will definitely come again again.
wwfe.cn.com lừa đảo công an truy nã cấm người chơi tham gia
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my
own weblog and was curious what all is required to get setup?
I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I’m not very web savvy so I’m not 100% certain. Any tips or advice
would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks
압구정칵테일바
Hello there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my twitter group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content.
Please let me know. Thank you
Signal
Yesterday, while I was at work, my sister stole my
iphone and tested to see if it can survive a twenty five foot
drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now
broken and she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
explore now
Hi! I’ve been reading your blog for some time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and
give you a shout out from Huffman Tx! Just wanted to
say keep up the good job!
bokep indonesia
I could not refrain from commenting. Well written!
lemon casino magyar
This design is spectacular! You definitely know how to keep a reader entertained.
Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to
start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Excellent job.
I really loved what you had to say, and more than that,
how you presented it. Too cool!
atualização az america para cs
You have observed very interesting points! ps decent internet site.
homepage
It’s actually a great and helpful piece of info.
I’m glad that you just shared this useful info with us.
Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
gt 108
Almost all of whatever you claim happens to be astonishingly precise and that makes me ponder why I had not looked at this with this light before. Your article really did switch the light on for me personally as far as this specific subject goes. However there is one position I am not too comfy with and whilst I try to reconcile that with the actual main idea of your position, permit me see what all the rest of your readers have to say.Very well done.
gt 108
Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe youre not more popular because you definitely have the gift.
teste cs net
Hey! Someone in my Myspace group shared this site with us so I came to check it out. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Superb blog and brilliant design.
ยูฟ่าเบท
Incredible quest there. What occurred after? Thanks!
hokiqq
Hello there, I discovered your blog by the use
of Google even as looking for a comparable matter, your website came up, it seems great.
I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hi there, just become alert to your weblog via Google, and found that it is really informative.
I’m going to be careful for brussels. I’ll appreciate when you proceed this in future.
Lots of other people can be benefited out of your writing.
Cheers!
bkv-mitgliederausstellung.de
Excellent, what a website it is! This website presents valuable facts to us,
keep it up.
slot mahjong
I will immediately grab your rss feed as I can not find your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please let me know in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.
Monarch Money alternative
It’s very straightforward to find out any matter on web as
compared to books, as I found this article at this website.