As winter winds sweep by Atlanta, the comforting attract of a scorching plate of soul meals is difficult to withstand. Gee and Juan Smalls, a married couple and proud co-owners of Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen & Bar, are serving up that heat and taste. Collectively for 16 years, the couple opened their first location in School Park in 2019, bringing a style of Gullah-inspired soul meals to the group.
The queer-owned institution began as a approach for Black queer males to have one other secure area in Atlanta’s group. The pair initially obtained their begin in hospitality by occasion manufacturing and promotion in 2010. After realizing no areas had been owned by and for Black queer males, they determined to open one themselves.
“One factor we observed after a couple of years is that there have been no bars or lounges or areas that had been owned by us, Gee advised Georgia Voice. “Whereas we might go into a few of these areas and a few of them would settle for us, and a few of them would tolerate us. By no means actually beloved and affirmed — they couldn’t see us. Particularly in Black homosexual Atlanta, why is there not a Black gay-owned spot right here?”
They wished their restaurant to really feel like dwelling for his or her Black queer patrons.
As soon as they discovered a constructing in School Park, they set to work on their menu. Shortly realizing they would wish to serve extra than simply drinks to School Park patrons, they realized they “didn’t know what we had been gonna serve. We went from burgers to wings to tacos to pizza, bar meals, no matter. I’m from Charleston, South Carolina — which is Gullah Geechee tradition — I’ve cooked all my life.”
The Smalls in the end determined to show towards Gee’s roots and convey consciousness to Gullah Geechee tradition.
“So, we determined let’s serve what I wish to prepare dinner — after which it was Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen & Bar,” Gee mentioned.
The Gullah Geechee tradition may be discovered in lots of elements of the coastal United States, together with the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Recognized formally because the Gullah Geechee Hall, it was declared a Nationwide Heritage Space in 2006 by Congress.
Notable for its dialect, “Gullah” is one other type of Creole vernacular combining Southern English and West African root phrases. Though this affect was not all the time acknowledged by linguists, at the moment Gullah is seen by students as an entire language with its personal grammatical construction.
Lots of the dishes attribute of Gullah Geechee tradition mirror the preservation of West African tradition throughout enslavement in distant coastal islands within the South.
“Now we have one thing known as purple rice,” Gee mentioned. “We eat a whole lot of rice in our tradition as a result of our ancestors had been introduced over to the Americas to develop rice in Charleston. You see a whole lot of dishes like crab rice, and purple rice is a tomato-based rice with pork in it…. Atthe base of Gullah Geechee meals is soul meals. Being the oldest Black tradition, in fact that’s the place soul meals got here from. A typical plate is collard greens, mac and cheese, and fried hen, which we name our ‘Afta Church Plate’.”
In one other homage to Gee’s heritage, the restaurant is known as after his late father, Virgil.
Beforehand featured on Good Morning America in 2021, Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen and Bar now boasts three areas in School Park, West Midtown and now Conyers. The restaurant continues to offer an upscale expertise of Gullah Geechee delicacies. Diners can take pleasure in a plate of Gullah Geechee-style Shrimp & Grits — distinctive because of its gravy base — to the sounds of Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s R&B classics. For the winter season, I can personally suggest the okra gumbo served with white rice, Rogerwood sausage, shrimp and crab.
Whereas the enterprise initially began as a strategy to construct area for Black queer males, patrons now symbolize all of Atlanta. The restaurant nonetheless pays homage to its roots by internet hosting Mates Friday, devoted to Black queer males, in addition to interval drag exhibits. The restaurant additionally continues to assist the queer group by supporting organizations like Viiv, the main well being care firm in HIV/AIDS analysis, consciousness, and therapy. The restaurant continues to provide again to the Gullah Geechee group in Charleston by sponsoring a youth summer season camp devoted to training and preserving Gullah Geechee tradition.
As they appear towards the long run, the couple stays dedicated to their mission to carry a plate of dwelling to the group that gave them their begin.
“We simply need all people to know that this can be a dwelling for our group,” Gee mentioned.
Study extra about Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen and Bar at virgilsgullahkitchen.com.
