Today we’d like to introduce you to Falayn Ferrell.
In 2016, Falayn partnered with Warren Luckett and Derek Robinson to establish Black Restaurant Week in Houston, a two-week celebration of the vast ethnic flavors and cultural variety black culinary professionals bring to Houston’s restaurant scene. The annual campaign features 25 Restaurants, 20 Caterers, 15 Food Trucks and participation of 25 other local Black businesses. Black Restaurant Week expanded to Oakland/San Francisco and Atlanta in 2017 where it was awarded “Bright Idea” by Atlanta Magazine’s, Best of Atlanta 2017. In 2017, Black Restaurant Week garnered over 2.5 million impressions and features in local and national media outlets such as the Huffington Post and Blavity. Through continued partnerships with corporations such as Verizon, Uber, UPS, Bacardi, BB&T, and Diageo Reserve, Black Restaurant Week continues to expand its model across the United States. In 2018, Black Restaurant Week will grow to Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Los Angeles to further its mission of stimulating local economies and promoting awareness of minority-owned businesses.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The reception by the community and culinary industry has been great. We really wanted all our stakeholders to understand our mission was about highlighting their businesses and figuring out ways to help them prosper. I think gaining trust in the industry is our biggest challenge. Once our stakeholders trust as partners, the model begins to create a beautiful and strong platform for everyone involved. This also helps us establish more relationships with corporate and community partners.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Black Restaurant Week – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Black Restaurant Week® is dedicated to celebrating the flavors of African-American, African, and Caribbean cuisine nationwide. Through a series of events and promotional campaigns, our culinary initiatives help introduce culinary businesses and professionals to the community and stimulate the local economy.
Our innovative approach to a restaurant week includes highlighting caterers, food truck owners, and private chefs to provide awareness and full access to the Black culinary industry which is a key ingredient to the American
culture.
Black Restaurant Week supports Family Agriculture Resource Management Services (F.A.R.M.S.) with a portion of proceeds from the restaurant week showcase. F.A.R.M.S. is a regional 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to providing legal and technical services to farmers of color in an effort to prevent the loss of land ownership to build generational wealth and eradicate hunger in the farmer’s community.
Black Restaurant Week provides support to Farms food bank program. The premise of the program is to increase small farmer’s revenue and feed food insecure residents in their community. By purchasing produce from program farmers at competitive prices, the farmer generates enough money to cover minimum expenses like the payment of property tax to retain land ownership. All purchased produce is donated to local food banks/pantries in the farmer’s communities.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are looking to continue our growth to new markets in 2019, with Washington DC. As well as continue to establish community partners and corporate partners nationwide.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://houbrw.com/
- Email: info@houbrw.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackrestaurantweek/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackrestaurantweek/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/blkrestaurantwk
Image Credit:
Courtesy of Black Restaurant Week, LLC
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
