Shanae

The family history and my relation to Staten Island and my relation to Sandy Ground, because honestly, no one knew.

And now people that live in the five boroughs, you know, the other four boroughs that have never been to Staten Island are now like, oh, snap, like.

You mean to tell me I'm a whole, and you know they got these labels, I'm a whole native New Yorker, I'm a New Yorker, or I'm a transplant, but I've been here for so long and I didn't know that...

that kind of foundational American Black history exists on Staten Island.

Awesome.

I honestly believe that when I'm preparing the dish, there's always a story attached.

And that's another reason why it's important to make sure that I elevate soul food.

Because soul food for me is not about the fried chicken, the mac and cheese, and the collard greens.

It's really about the experiences that are tied to the recipes.

The storyteller that I am says, when you truly believe that you are assigned to a task in order to inspire and empower people,

you have a much greater responsibility to the world and to yourself to make sure that you keep it cool and that you trust that it's always going to work out regardless of what the challenges or the obstacles are going to be.

And as long as you can tell that story to people transparently, truthfully, and then with a little bit of fun, people start to realize that like,

Shit ain't so bad out here in the world.

Your main responsibility in telling stories is to inspire and empower people to push past differences, challenges, trials.

And so I believe that when I get in the kitchen, no matter what my day is, no matter what the situation is, a story is being tied to it.

There's so much importance to telling the story.

And I believe that my business rides on that every single day.

Get the chouchou platter.

I just put the chouchou platter on the menu for 2026.

The chouchou platter is a little bit of everything from out of the kitchen.