We recently connected with Jahbri Merritt and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jahbri thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?
My business had other partners before I began ChefwitdaLeft Kitchen. In fact, before my business there was Saint Paul’s Finest. A beautiful idea that burned before it’s golden hour. I had a wonderful idea during my 2 year course with Saint Paul College. I spoke to 5 other students/chefs in my class who were moved and inspired by the thought of our own kitchen and catering business. The fuel behind this idea thrived at the beginning of the pandemic. Seeing so many restaurants failing and others withering way due to old ideas and lack of staffing and transition, birthed our passion for changing the game in the food world. What was so unique about this team is that each one of us were so diverse in our backgrounds and cooking types. i partnered with an Italian classmate by the name of Beth who was great at advertising and her grandmothers sacred recipes. A chill classmate of Latino descent by the name of Chris. He had a great knack for baking goods! Navaeh was a unique chef who specialized in desserts and making vibrant colors with her frosting. Vernetta was a older classmate who took her soulful recipes from her family (who represented Geechee culture) and fused that with a Midwestern touch to make special traditional foods that we all know and love. Ryan was a hungry, determined chef who never ran out of energy and let his flare in the kitchen shine through his flavor of meats and seafood. He had a special way of making all customers feel welcome. Then there was myself. I was and still am the Sauce king. I cook, marinate, saute, bake, and broil some of the best foods known in Saint Paul, MN. I was the brain of the group, with so many creative ideas and networking ability. I led the charge in events and pop up shops for us to gain or exposure. Unfortunately, this team lasted only 1 year. This was caused by lack of capital, inflated egos and hidden alterior motives that were never properly aligned with our mission nor our vision statement. Recruiting these members was never the issue. They were all my former classmates and we saw each other all the time! That in itself is an unconventional process but one that works. Now I personally never jumped the gun in choosing these former partners. It was more so the fact that we had no capital We were taking money out of all of our paychecks to put in on a commercial kitchen in Northeast Minneapolis. It was a lot of time and effort put into it, literally blood sweat and tears and I believe many people just wanted physical confirmation that it would all work out, and not just another culinary pipe dream. After that huge loss and eventually, departure from the team. I was left with an empty kitchen to vacate, and broken dreams to build one of the most strongest, diverse catering teams the Twin Cities would ever see. I took it extremely hard and fell into a huge depression. Until later a new catering team was birthed from the ashes. Twin Cities Global Cuisine. Just 3 members. Myself, Vernetta a former partner, and another former classmate by the name of Teri. This time I was sure of the successes and endeavors of this team. However I eventually got burned a second time. This time was worse as unfortunately I dealt with backstabbing, theft of clients, theft od networking partners, theft of my ideas, logos, recipes, and even business capital. This was a huge learning lesson in my life that even though we meet people who have similar interests, that their pathways may be completely different than yours. I am well aware that I still yearn for a super team of chefs, but now I am wiser and more careful with the process of growing and expanding. I am grateful for those lessons, although painful because one thing I do not want to be in the world of entrepreneurship is successful yet naive. Looking back on things, I wouldn’t have done anything different because for these last 2 years I moved with pure intention every single time and I have no regrets at all!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Jahbri Merritt, founder of ChefwitdaLeft Kitchen LLC. I am originally from Kansas City, KS. I currently live in Saint Paul, MN with my beautiful wife and a beautiful child on the way in December. I have been cooking for 14 years and I love every minute of it. I infuse traditional meals with modern twists and consider myself a jack of all trades. One of my biggest dishes that I am proud about is my Pot Pies. Although I don’t have plans of reinventing the wheel, I do see opportunity in taking a good meal and making it even better, even more unique than before. What’s special about my Pot pies are the flavors. I currently have the North Star (original chicken), MN Nice (Chicken Wild Rice), Mario (Lasagna), Luigi (Chicken Alfredo), Twin City Pride (Vegetarian), Game Day (Chili Pot Pie), Sunday Dinner (Thanksgiving), and the Montgomery (BHM special) with other flavors cooking up in the works! I solve problems by providing very delicious, affordable meals to people and families on the go who don’t have to think twice about a good meal or not being full! My brand is still in its early years of development but I am very proud about where I am heading with it. My goal is to have these meals distributed all over cities throughout America and even international. What sets me apart are my flavors, creative ideas and my personality! My brand is so special to me because I am ChefwitdaLeft ( a left handed chef). A catchy, bold, creative, daring, and fun cook who genuinely enjoys food and health without sacrificing the flavor! I am #PieLifePapi and welcome to the Pie Life!
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Okay this is going to sound insane but the truth is…..I didn’t! I started this initially with a team who all saved from our paychecks in order to get things going. Now, I use my own paychecks from my day job (kitchen management) to fund my business. Truthfully, it’s very difficult to fund a food business with no capital. i didn’t come from a wealthy family, I don’t have any settlement money or even a savings account to pull from. I am just a man who was once a kid trying his absolute hardest to create a form of generational wealth through delicious food that people all over can enjoy. I am ALWAYS vigorously on the lookout for grants, even if I am only in my second year of development.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Absolutely! When I was enrolled in Saint Paul College for my Associates in Culinary I had plenty of moments of resilience. My biggest moment would be throughout my first year of being a student I was bent on looking for a black owned restaurant to be mentored and trained by. As a black chef in the making, my classroom had only 2 other POC there, who happened to be women. While this wasn’t a problem at all, I had no guidance in my field. My teacher was french and there were no Chefs of color in the school out of 6 of them. Representation in any form will always matter. With that being said, I left my current job after finding a small black owned restaurant several miles away and took a $4 pay cut in order to do so. This restaurant was also twice as far away. Additionally, halfway through my school year, i was notified through my counselor that I needed 8 more classes (about 40 credits) in order to graduate on time with the rest of my classmates because when i enrolled I was told by another counselor incorrect information about the total amount of credits needed attain my degree. I was astonished and felt defeated, nut I put together a plan, buckled down and did double the work, doubled the miles to work, halved the income, halved the sleep and doubled the cooking in my class just to graduate and this was all in the 2020 when our classes were both virtual AND online. I also experienced homelessness during this transition after a covid exposure in my residence at the time. it was brutal, yet I wear it all with a smile. Now that is resilience!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Chefwitdaleft_llc
- Facebook: Chefwitdaleft Kitchen
Image Credits
@Quincy Street Kitchen