Brittney Williams, who runs Brittney’s famous kitchen in Alabama. Photos by Lucy Gellman.
Brittney Williams scooped a spoonful of her Mississippi chicken onto a plate, careful not to spill any of the juices. She moved on to the garlicky mashed potatoes, velvety smooth with an aromatic pinch of salt and herbs. When she added a golden piece of cornbread and a dollop of Jezebel sauce, she was drawing on a tradition of Southern matriarchs, from her mother Pam to her great-grandmother Magnolia.
Wednesday afternoon, Williams met with other graduates of Collaboration with CitySeeds Food Business Accelerator at the Dixwell Community Q House, where CitySeed’s weekly farmers market takes place. Daniel Y. Stewart Plaza. For three hours, the weekly market became a platform for culinary alchemists and small entrepreneurs, with flavors ranging from spicy kimchi slaw and garlic chicken to strawberry cheesecake.
The Food Business Accelerator is a 12-week program for young food entrepreneurs who receive personal advice and training from the organizations that run them. On Wednesday, companies took part, including Tortilleria Semilla, Brittney’s Famous Alabama Cuisine, Warm catering, Caribbean Soul, Mama Kiss Kitchen, Pup Pizza Dog Bakery, Suga and Spice Me, Mitho Garden, Razzi’s Food & TreatsAnd Aunt Sheelah’s CheesecakeThey represent only a fraction of the accelerator’s work since 2018.
Above: Chef Kismet Douglass of Momma Kiss Kitchen, which serves food at CitySeed’s weekly farmers markets. Below: Chef Aaron Lee and his children Aaralyn and Noah.
“They just have so much talent and innovation and they have the potential to grow,” said Cara Santino, Food Entrepreneurship Director at CitySeed. “It’s So It’s difficult for any small business that’s starting up right now, so support them. Eating together helps build community. That’s what we have right now.”
On Wednesday, that community was in full force, chefs quietly cheering each other on from a series of tents and stalls that surrounded the square, growing the market to three times its normal size. Near the back entrance of Q House, chef Aaron Lee of Warm catering Generous portions of vegetarian nachos and Korean jerk barbecue chicken were handed out, the latter nicely served on a skewer with ginger barbecue sauce and crisp coleslaw.
On either side of him, his children Noah and Aaralyn transformed into young sous chefs, learning the tricks of the trade while serving samples to an ever-growing line of guests. A former Yale food service employee and Graduate of the Food Business Accelerator 2021Lee now caters to events large and small throughout the tri-state area, from private dinners to corporate events at Yale.
Shayne “Chef Razzi” Miller (center) with Johnny Golding and Jaylisha Gary.
While he was working, he occasionally looked over at his colleague Shayne “Chef Razzi” Millera son of New Haven who wants to give back as his culinary career reaches its peak.
“Making good food is about love,” he said later. “That’s why our food comes from the heart.”
Further along at the table, Miller often looked back and paid tribute to Lee for his culinary inspiration in the small town where he grew up.
Born and raised in the Westville neighborhood of New Haven, Miller began cooking seriously at age 19 when he became vegan. For years, he worked in the food industry, including at Sage American Bar & Grill, Forks & Fingers and Burke’s Catering in Greenwich. During that time, he also worked freelance as a photographer, earning him the nickname Razzi, like paparazzi.
Even then, he said, he knew he wanted more. In 2016, Miller joined ConnCAT’s still young culinary programthen under Chef Eric Blass (now under Chef Jenna Martin). Within a few weeks, he felt the world opening up to him, from the new dishes the students were learning every day to the skills they were developing in the kitchen. After six months, he interned at the University of Fairfield, where he ended up working in the restaurant industry for three years.
Miller liked the job, he said – but he was always interested in expanding his culinary footprint. After working in food service at the Dolan School of Business, he returned to ConnCAT as a teacher, working full-time under Martin to train students. In addition to his colleagues, he said his young daughter Khloe and his students at ConnCAT are his inspiration.
Above: Josi Contreras and Anabel Hernandez of Tortilleria Semilla. Below: Zoey Hodge of Pup Pizza Dog Bakery, inspired by New Haven’s love affair with pizza.
On Wednesday, he brought out two of his mentees, ConnCAT students Johnnoy Golding and Jaylisha Gary, to serve jerk chicken and kimchi slaw wraps with fruit, olive oil cake and candied cashews, New York style. A combination of hot spices and a sweet, tart mango finish awaited the hungry attendees in the slaw wraps.
“This is great,” he said as Gary placed more small packets of candied cashews on the table. “I think that’s what I’m here for. I need to make sure the students know I’m here for them.”
Just a few tents away, Williams was showcasing her garlic Mississippi chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, homemade cornbread and Jezebel sauce, the recipe of which remains top secret. As soon as she had everything set up, a line had formed and visitors were sniffing the aroma of garlic, onions and banana peppers wafting through the warm air.
With each new face, she took a moment to point out different dishes, from the sweet, spicy banana peppers to golden crumbs on the cornbread.
Shakeema Romero (in yellow) from Suga & Spice Me with her daughter Cadence. Founded in 2021 and based in Bridgeport, their company is based on making healthy, delicious foods with natural ingredients.
Born and raised in Alabama, Williams has loved cooking since she was a child, when her mother Pam and great-grandmother Magnolia taught her the basics. After studying film and theater at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she worked in the restaurant industry for two decades. She moved to New Haven nearly two years ago to care for her then-newborn niece.
As her niece grew out of her tiny onesies and approached her second birthday, Williams felt the familiar pull of the kitchen. “Titi’s trying to get back to work!” she said, laughing as she looked across the square to her mother, Pam. Cooking was the coziest place for her to return to: it was the culinary arts that always gave her a sense of strength and sometimes even sass, depending on the dish she was preparing.
“This is my comfort zone,” she says. “This is where I find peace.” After graduating from the last Food Business Accelerator in March, her goal is to sell her food at major retailers like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Target later this year.
Above: Lebron. Below: Participants Jerome Washington, Gloria Gray and Joyce Woods.
Next to her, Photo by: Caribe Soul’s Hazel Lebron handed out still-warm empanadas wrapped in wax paper and was ready to chat with anyone curious enough to ask about the flavors of guava lava (jammy, sweet guava and mozzarella; just trust it), sweet potato cheesecake and roasted greens (Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes and Sriracha).
In the past year, Lebron says she’s been able to expand her business to include CitySeed’s weekly markets and focus more on catering. She believes the Food Business Accelerator helped her make that change of course, as she still operates her Madeleine’s storefront in The Hill.
Nearby, Smita Shrestha and her parents, Bharat and Rupeshwori Shrestha, served warm mamaor dumplings and spicy potato salad from their pop-up shop Mitho GardenMitho Garden opened in the spring of last year and is intended to be a cultural bridge between New Haven, Connecticut, and Nepal, where the family is originally from. Currently, the three use the incubator kitchen at Q House, with Rupeshwori handling the majority of the cooking duties.
Above: The Mitho Garden team. Below: Aya Washington, Nyashia Grant and Alaysia Grant.
When she had two vegetable momo with Timur Achara creamy, spicy tomato sauce that is enhanced with garlic, chilies and Sichuan pepper depending on the recipe, Smita said she is excited to introduce people to Nepalese cuisine and culture, which is still relatively unknown in New Haven.
“It’s incredible,” watching people’s reactions as they eat the food, she said, smiling. “We welcome you to Nepal – we love the cultural part of it.”
As if on cue, sisters Alaysia and Nyashia Grant grabbed some of the last chicken momos and balanced them in small plastic cups that were empty within seconds. Nyashia, 17, said she liked how flavoursome the combination of chicken, cabbage and finely chopped vegetables was from the moment she bit into the dumpling.
She added that she enjoyed everything she tried, with special praise for the cheesecakes made by 2023 Food Business Accelerator graduate Auntie Sheelah. “Ten out of ten,” she said before heading to Shakeema Romero’s shop. Suga and Spice Mejust one table away. Soon she was trying Romero’s chili and vegan chocolate cake with a cocoa flavor so intense you could almost swim in it. 
Above: Marlo Edwards and his four-year-old Yorkie/Maltese Tego stop for Pup Pizza. Below: CitySeed CEO Sarah Miller with Lindy Lee Gold, a senior development specialist at the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (CT DECD).
Sarah Miller, the managing director of CitySeed was Earlier this summer, the organization found that events like Wednesday’s highlighted the need for more space and a larger, functioning commercial kitchen – a plan the organization has already been working on. a new building in Fair HavenAlready, food companies often compete for space in Q House, where the kitchen is almost always in use.
They have now outgrown a space on Legion Avenue, where Sanctuary Kitchen prepares food every week. It marks a kind of full circle for the accelerator: Sanctuary Kitchen was one of his first projects in 2018.
“This is an example of why we need this building,” she said.
The CitySeed Farmers’ Market at the Dixwell Community Q House will be held every Wednesday from 3-6 p.m. through October 25 at 197 Dixwell Ave. More information is available Here.
