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
rajabandot login
Thanks for any other excellent post. Where else may just anyone get that kind of info in such a perfect means of writing? I have a presentation subsequent week, and I’m at the search for such information.
Memo force
Virtue, they say, lies in the middle, but who among us can truly say where the middle is? Is it a fixed point, or does it shift with time, perception, and context? Perhaps the middle is not a place but a way of moving, a constant balancing act between excess and deficiency. Maybe to be virtuous is not to reach the middle but to dance around it with grace.
Beast Force Review
Great V I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your website. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs as well as related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, website theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Excellent task..
Beast Force Reviews
It is truly a nice and helpful piece of information. I am glad that you simply shared this useful information with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Mitolyn Review
Greetings! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site? I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform. I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
rajabandot login
This site is known as a stroll-by means of for all the information you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and you’ll undoubtedly discover it.
rajabandot login alternatif
Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good results. If you know of any please share. Cheers!
Tonic Greens
I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
rajabandot link alternatif
Great work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the net. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my web site . Thanks =)
rajabandot link alternatif
I like what you guys are up also. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the excellent works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my website 🙂