All over the city there are intimate restaurants featuring intimate tables covered in black linens and topped with gold flatware; these eateries often attract couples on dates as well as families looking for family dinners. But east of the river, Kitchen Savages stands out as being something different; offering soul food specialties alongside neighborhood block party vibes for its patrons to enjoy.
Darrell Gaston has long been involved with his Ward 8 community as a candidate for city council and state board of education as well as an anti-violence community activist. But this year he's taken his passion for cooking and community service even further by opening Kitchen Savages restaurant that serves soul food while providing hospitality training programs for at-risk young people.
Gaston says each person who enters his restaurant has the chance to turn their life around. He tells them they don't need to sell drugs or be on the street anymore and, with hard work at his restaurant, can get better jobs, move out of their neighborhoods and care for themselves and their families.
Kitchen Savages owner Gaston hopes to expand to other parts of the city; for now though, he's more than content serving hungry customers who come in seeking crab cake egg rolls, honey-blackened salmon and banana pudding cheesecake - and treating his workers like family.
