Community Highlights: Meet Quincy Jones of Taste of Soul Southern Cuisine & Catering

Today we’d like to introduce you to Quincy Jones.

Hi Quincy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I first got started cooking around 7 or 8 years old. Loved to be in the kitchen with my mom. She has been the biggest influence in my journey to being a chef. I always tell people she was the first to put a pot in my hand. Her Sunday dinners are epic! She taught me the importance of family and how bringing everyone together with a hot meal can build long-lasting memories and bonds. Both of my parents have always hard workers through them I developed my grind mindset and work ethic.

Always go hard do your best and put your heart in soul into everything that you do. The name of my business taste of soul represents more than soul food itself the name literally represents my heart, my soul, the passion I have for what I do. I attended Saint Augustine College with a major in criminal justice.

During college, I would sell plates to friends to hustle up a few extra bucks when I could. With the help of friends and family, I realized I really had something going and discovered my passion for cooking could be financially rewarding as well. Soon after I decided to put myself through culinary school. And began working at various services industry jobs to gain experience.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge I believe I have faced to date was the pandemic. The fear, the Uncertantiy that the pandemic brought was huge. Being a full-time business owner forced you into a position to either sink or swim. Dealing with catering and relying on the gathering of people to run my business being in quarantine put a stop to all of that.

I had to get creative I begin offering private chef dinners. It gave people that feeling of dining out at a high-end steak house while being able to still social distance and remain home. Surprisingly enough by forcing me to get creative trying new things with the pandemic going on has definitely helped me become a better business owner and has given me the confidence that I needed to realize I can encounter a country-wide shutdown and still keep my business open.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My business is a full-service catering company based in Raleigh NC. We specialize and primarily focus on our Private Chef Dinner Experience. An idea that exploded out of the bounce back from the pandemic. The idea is to bring a delicious 5-star dining experience to the comfort of your home. I am extremely proud of the response I have received in building a growing client base all over NC and beyond.

Being known as “The Pullup Chef”. Has allowed me to not only bring that awesome multi-course dining experience to your home in a plated meal setting but also offer services such as popup grilling and fish fries. In addition to the private dinner offering, we do offer full-service catering for weddings, baby showers, and large parties.

How do you think about luck?
If anything I am lucky to have the amazing family and friend support system that I do. That paired with meeting some awesome people along the way that believe in me and my brand enough to spread the word and help put me in the right places with the right people.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://linktr.ee/ChefQpresents
• Instagram: @tasteofsoulraleigh
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tasteofsoulcatering919/

Image Credits
Melinda Harkley