Today we’d like to introduce you to Yohana Solomon.
Hi Yohana, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My Mom was a great cook with a huge sense of community. She valued every single meal and insisted we always eat together as a family while including neighbors and friends. As a result, I understood the gift of love and power of healing that comes from preparing and eating together.
This definitely played a huge role with the direction I chose. 13 years ago, after my 10-year journey with Starbucks ended I began participating at a pop-up underground event where home cooks like me get to sell their food. I thought that was too good to be true. I get to feed people and make some money? It couldn’t get any better!
I took over organizing the Atlanta Underground Market in 2011. The market would pop up in a different “secret” location each month, including The Atlanta History Center, Atlantic Station, Sweet Auburn Market, Ponce City Market and numerous other locations. Each pop-up had between 500 and 800 attendees and consisted of up to 20 emerging small business owners. One of the attendees I connected with was Amanda Plumb. In 2017, Amanda and I co-founded Chow Club of Atlanta, which is a true underground dining experience that features chefs from all parts of the world.
Organizing these events, I met the most wonderful people from all walks of life. It created a community where people gathered to eat and learn about different cultures. The event had created an outlet for seven of our chefs to start their catering and restaurant business. We have been featured on AJC, Atlanta magazine, NPR, WBTV and countless media outlets. In my 13 years working, I have seen so many hard-working talented home cooks give up on their dreams because of impossible overhead and lack of access to the foodie community. With a community, I have seen and helped so many succeed. I always dreamed of a brick-and-mortar space that will allow an opportunity for more of these home cooks to grow and share their food and love with Atlanta.
Currently, I am working on a pop-up concept which we are calling Chow Club À La Carte at our new uptown location. We will be opening Friday-Saturday to host food from around the world. Please sign up on our website so you will be the first to know when we announce it.
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?
Finding a location. We started at the co-founders house(Amanda). The more press coverage we got and our guest list got, bigger finding a venue was a challenge. We have hosted the dinners at East lake common house, The Atlanta Underground and recently we are hosting our events at Uptown in Buckhead..
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a co-founder of a Chow Club Atlanta. It is an organization in Atlanta that features unique ethnic cuisine monthly made by immigrant and refugee chefs.
OUR VISION
To build a bridge that will connect the immigrant/refugee small business home cooks with the foodie community. To build a space where people can come to eat and discover different cuisines.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Amanda plumb. She is my partner in crime and co-founder of chow club Atlanta. Also, the Atlanta foodie community and my 12-year-old daughter who keeps me humble and grounded.
Pricing:
- $60
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ChowClubAtlanta.com
- Instagram: @ChowclubATL
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chowclubatlanta?mibextid=LQQJ4d
