Georgia is bringing some love to Philadelphia later this month through a collab with “CheFarmers” Matthew and Tia Raiford of Strong Roots 9, plus, Philly’s own Ember & Ash and Booker’s Restaurant.
“From Georgia with Love” is set to take place on Feb. 25 and 26 with the first night at Ember & Ash (1520 East Passyunk Ave.) and the second iteration at Booker’s Restaurant & Bar and Bayou Lounge (5021 Baltimore Ave.) Both events will take inspiration from the historic Centennial Family Farm in Brunswick, Georgia that Strong 9 Roots calls home.
Feb. 25’s festivities will be in the form of a five-course dinner hosted by the Raifords. As a release notes, the evening will be a collaboration of Gullah Geechee cuisine infused with Ember & Ash’s live-fire cooking techniques, including ingredients grown at Gilliard Farms—the 50-acre homestead was purchased by Matthew’s great-great-great-grandfather and freed slave Jupiter Gilliard in 1874 for $9.
While there, diners will be able to indulge in dishes like shrimp toast with saffron coconut rice and pickled okra; head hash terrine with fennel and citrus; smoked grouper with middlin risotto and hoja santa; sweet potato olive oil cake; and more. Seating times are 5, 6 and 7 p.m., and the dinner comes out to be $95 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Reservations are available now via Resy.
“We’ve wanted to do a collaboration with longtime friends Scott and Lulu Calhoun of Ember & Ash for a while, as my ties to Philly run deep,” explained Tia in a statement. Both Scott and Tia worked with chef Marc Vetri at Lo Spiedo, and Tia was the culinary director for his nonprofit, Vetri Community Partnership from 2012 to 2014.
The Raifords, who were Culinary Institute of America grads, decided to switch gears to take their culinary skills to their historic farm in rural Georgia with a mission in mind: To “engage the world with African American foodways, revive the holistic practices of their ancestors, and help to feed their diverse community high-quality, locally-grown organic produce that are sustainably farmed.”
As a release notes, the couple believes in cultivating the land and pioneering a return to the regenerative practices of their forefathers — the Freshwater Gullah Geechee, who were direct descendants of West Africans brought to the U.S. as slaves for their expertise in rice and indigo cultivation.
This Black History Month celebration will continue with the Bookers event on the 26. Titled “A Great Migration Dinner,” Matthew will be using his skills as a historian and climate change activist to lead guests through a multi-course dinner and discussion recounting the history of the movement to the urban North by six million southern Blacks between 1910 and 1970. The James Beard semi-finalist and author of ‘Bress ‘n’ Nyam’ will also delve into how they brought their rich culinary traditions to a new life in the Northeast, Midwest, and West.
Highlighted dishes span a pickled vegetable plate with Jamaican-style spinach patties, De Wata (salmon croquettes with red rice and herb salad),Win’ – Poulet Yassa (Senegalese style lemon pepper chicken with vegan teff stew), sweet potato pone with toasted walnut semifreddo and more. There will also be two De Spirits (complimentary cocktails) — a Gullah Geechie Gin Rickey or an alcohol-free hibiscus and lime spritzer.
“Many African Americans’ roots can be traced to the Great Migration, including our own families,” said Cheri and Tracey Syphax from Booker’s restaurant in a statement. “We thought it would be a no-brainer to have Matthew join us for this special event, especially during Black History Month, given the fact that the namesake of our restaurant Booker Wright, is a famous waiter who worked in a whites-only restaurant in the 1960s Mississippi while also running his restaurant that catered to black customers.”
The dinner starts at 6 p.m. and costs $75 per person (plus tax and gratuity).
To find out more information on “From Georgia with Love”, visit emberandashphilly.com and bookersrestaurantandbar.com
