FOOD & DRINK FEATURE
THE RAW TRUTH WITH KENYA TEMPLETON
Viva Raw’s market manager on family traditions, cycling and her fav CLT foods BY JASIATIC ANDERSON
Kenya Templeton is a force of wonder. You may know her face from Viva Raw, a raw bites juicerey located in 7th Street Public Market. After being an employee there for a few months, she was recently promoted to customer care and market manager. This is the thing: Kenya knows her shit. I should
KENYA TEMPLETON
Pg. 16 DEC 16 - DEC 29, 2020 - QCNERVE.COM
PHOTO BY CHADWICK CARTWRIGHT
off multilingual names of dishes with sheer beauty, leaving you curious, intrigued and starving. I sat down with her to know more. You ever met someone, stayed in touch for 10 years, watched them do amazing things, only to realize you know nothing about them? I wanted to be learned so I asked about her upbringing, cycling, natural health and, well — we talked about a lot. In fact, you’re going to have to go to qcnerve.com to catch the full version of our convo. Jasiatic Anderson: You’ve got a long resume. What are the things people around Charlotte know you for? Kenya Templeton: “Vitamin Lady” at Healthy Home Market on South Boulevard or Central Avenue, Sprouts or Earth Fare Concord; former organizer of Charlotte Natural Hair Meetup Group; founder of Charlotte Natural Hair Education Week; that big girl that be dancing and sanging at Soulful Noel (see Lifewave); co-founder and organizer, Queen City EZ Riders Slow Biking Gang; the Black lady that bikes all over Charlotte and is car-free by choice; designer of the sashiko and patchwork coat that won the first Repurposed Fashion Show; and Urban Girl Granola World, my former brand name and IG account. How would you describe yourself? Citified country gal with crunchy granola tendencies and world travel dreams always looking for an adventure involving food, cycling, music, dancing learning, educating, and healing. Child molestation and rape thriver. I am beyond surviving that shit now. My nephew says that I am the auntie with a house that is cool like an upscale drug den, cooking crazy food, scolding you, and loving on you at the same time. I feel that is the most accurate description anyone has ever said about me.
know after working under her as my manager at Healthy Home Market on South Boulevard circa 2011. She was the manager of the vitamin department there, which, as in most health-food stores, carried the whole establishment. Former employee Elisha Covington credits Templeton with teaching her “pretty much everything I know about What’s your favorite thing to make from a health.“ garden? Since my working with her in a formal setting, Anything soup. I eat soups all year. My favorites I’ve come to know Kenya in another way: the go-to are West African mafe (peanut stew) and any international food expert of the city. Kenya knows southeast Asian curry, especially massaman. food in a way I’ve never seen. Not just a purveyor of plates, she cooks her ass off with ease. She rattles
What’s your favorite place to eat vegetables in Charlotte? My house. I find that most menus in Charlotte are limited with vegan and vegetarian options that are not redundant with other restaurants in the area. Plus, I like spices. I eat little American food, so vegan restaurants often bore me and do not have enough seasoning. I have over three shelves of spices in my spice cabinet and grow herbs in my flower beds. With COVID, Freshlist and The Produce Box have been delivering local organic produce and foodstuffs
KENYA’S GRAIN BOWL FOOD PHOTOS BY KENYA TEMPLETON
to me. I pick stuff I have not ever had when possible so I can explore. If I had to pick a restaurant, I would say Enat Ethiopian, Jimmy Pearls, or Kebab-Je. Those are my go-to spots for plant-based meals with soul and seasoning. Both Enat and Kebab-Je have huge veggie platters that are so good I usually dance and hum when I eat them. What are three places to eat in the Charlotte area that people probably don’t know, but should? Lam’s Kitchen in Matthews is my favorite place for authentic Chinese food. It reminds me of late nights and holidays I spent eating in Chinatown, NYC. Plenty of vegetables for those that are plantbased. I do not cook a lot of meat at home, so I look forward to places that cook meat well. This is one of the only places I eat pork other than bacon. I
normally get long beans, soft-shell crab, and tender greens. Thai Tamarind in Monroe is the freshest tasting Thai in the area. Their naam kao — crispy rice with spicy lime pork and veggies — is one of my favorite dishes in the area. I also love their Pat Thai and panang curry in the veggie version. I wish they were closer to my home because I would go several times a month. Grand Asia Market in Stallings was my go-to for Asian food shopping and authentic cuisine. I am a sucker for Hong Kong-style pastries like moon cake, egg tart, tuna bun, wife cake, red bean bun, taro bun, sachima, jian deui/sesame balls, and curry bun. Pick up a bubble tea, smoothie, milk tea, dim sum (on Saturday and Sunday). Then head around the corner for a full array of Chinese meat and veggie dishes and one of my favorites, Peking duck. If you go around the back of the bakery case, a view window is in place to watch sweet and savory goodies be made. I think it is one of the singularly most magical places in the Charlotte area. Umph, all the places I love the best are not in Charlotte. I never thought about it until now. What does that say about Charlotte? How important is family tradition and ancestry with foods you prepare? I am the black sheep of my family. Therefore, I am estranged from most of them. In addition, I am the only non-Christian in my family. I converted to Judaism at a conservative synagogue in Brooklyn, NY, in 2005. In Black families, if you are not Christian or Muslim, they do not have a clue as to what your religious traditions are and will not make a point to learn them. My family hosted bid whist nights, parties, fish fries, and cookouts. When I was in NY, I hosted many a Shabbos meal before going to Friday night service. Grilling and smoking is not limited to special events. My father will smoke a whole fillet of salmon and I will make the vegetables. This is dinner on Tuesday. My mother is the best cook I know. She cooks different cuisines. She bakes. She is very experimental. I do the same. If you come for dinner or a party at my house, you need to have an adventurous palette. Do not expect chips, meatballs, crudite, or seven-layer dip. My cheese boards have vegan cheese with fennel, lime, chipotle cashew cheese. They ain’t ready.
