Today we’d like to introduce you to Jazmyne Franklin and Sabreena Randolph.
Hi Jazmyne and Sabreena, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
We are long-time friends who met as roommates at Columbus State University in Columbus, GA. We have always bonded through food. We both enjoy dining out trying new and different restaurant experiences around ATL as well as sitting down eating a lovely home-cooked meal. Both having a joy for eating and preparing delicious food, One of our favorite past times would be trying to recreate something we ate a restaurant. When the pandemic hit and most restaurants were closed, we were cooking and creating much more to replace going out to restaurants. We figured other people were missing eating out as well and others around us like family and friends always raved and praised us on the dishes we were making. This peaked our interest in joining the catering industry but with an emphasis of private dining and dining experiences.
Our first offering, was romantic private dining for couples which is where we got our name, J&S Just Sensual Dining. We know that a lot of dates involve around food and going out to eat. So we developed a package that included private dining for a date in your home, romantic decor, and set up and clean up Included. With us doing absolutely all of the work, it can feel more like a date for our customers enjoying a delicious meal without even setting foot in the kitchen. We also created a DIY Box for those who do not want contact at all or just wanted to take a little bit more credit for the meal lol. This includes a prepped meal “like home chef meal kits” but much better. It also comes with the option of decor based on the event the customer is celebrating and we drop off at their location. Then from time to time, we could create a menu and do to go plates so we could bring our delicious food to a wider customer base.
Once covid restrictions were lightening up and things were opening back up again we included catering experiences for 4-6 people. Targeting friends/family who were wanting to meet up after a while from not seeing each other but were still weary about restaurants or restaurants had their own restrictions. Soon enough, we started catering for large parties. With there being no more Covid restrictions, we cater to all party types big and small. We even still do to go plates occasionally.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Our biggest obstacle has been scaling our business and increasing our customer base. Marketing has been another challenge. As a full time nurse and social worker; we never had any traditional business training. So we are constantly learning new ways to market and keep on our business venture.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Our goal is to truly provide a dining experience wherever we go. We strive in using the freshest ingredients and everything handmade all the way to the dipping sauces. We want you to taste the time and effort we put into preparing the meal. We truly want to cater to our customers. If we had to put a label on our food it would be luxury steakhouse dining with soul food flavors. We love to fuse different flavors and cultures in our food when we can. We are most proud that we started this business with full-time jobs and Jazmyne is a full-time wife, and mother, and pursuing a master’s degree in social work. We spend all of our extra time pushing for new opportunities and growing our business. We also have no traditional culinary training and we are creating our business from the ground up.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Our ultimate goal is to become a one-stop shop for celebrations. In the next five years, we hope to have an event center that offers in-house catering and event rentals to elevate any event. In the next 10 years, we also hope to teach culinary classes to at-risk youth in our community. It is imperative to give back to our community and help with the high-risk health issues that dominate our culture.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.justsensualdining.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justsensualdining/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jsjustdining/
