Beginning in 2018, LaQuisha Jackson started catering her gourmet southern cuisine for customers in the South Bend area. Her passion since the age of seven, cooking came naturally to her, and her business blossomed from there.
Featuring menu items such as hot meatloaf sandwiches and fried catfish, Jackson seeks to end the stigma around Southern food being greasy or unhealthy, and instead turn it into a gourmet food that anyone can enjoy.
“We want people to believe in the cuisine,” said Jackson, who is a preferred caterer for places such as Notre Dame University, St. Mary’s College and the Madame C.J. Walker Legacy Center.
A ServSafe certified business, Soulful Kitchen prides itself in observing all health and safety procedures when handling their food. As a ServSafe instructor and registered proctor, Jackson provides Servsafe classes to anyone interested in the industry. The ServSafe courses and protocol are all examples of the Soulful Kitchen mission – to provide exceptional service.
Named as one of the 2021 South Bend Tribune’s 40 under 40 class, Jackson also spends her spare time as the hospitality leader at her church. A mother of eight children, Jackson cares for those in her community in need through her nonprofit, Hope for the Hungry.
Hope for the Hungry, established in 2020, hosts several pop-up pantries around South Bend, as well as an in-person food shopping experience, a getting-ahead class for those in poverty and fresh meals for the homeless. According to the website, the mission of Hope for the Hungry is “to bring hope by serving with compassion, feeding the mind and body and being an impact through education.”
With dreams of expanding internationally, Jackson has begun taking steps to extend her business and nonprofit to central Indiana and hopes to one day be featured as a chef on The Food Network television station.
To learn more about Soulful Kitchen, Hope for the Hungry and Laquisha Jackson, visit www.soulfulkitchensb.com.
