DeVonn Francis’s Grub Street Diet

"An experimental events company founded in 2017 by a queer Caribbean-American chef-artist that stages identity-driven dinner parties and has pivoted into meal delivery and takeout partnerships to survive the pandemic. The operation emphasizes cooperative economics and community collaboration—selling prepared meals and condiments from a deli case, testing product collaborations with other Black chefs and vendors, and rehiring kitchen staff—while balancing creative-director duties and the emotional and financial pressures of running a small food business. A signature dessert is a carrot cake made with pressed labneh instead of cream cheese, Maldon sea salt, coconut flakes, brown butter and almond flour, omitting raisins and finished with candied carrots." - Chris Crowley