‘Food is our love language’: Overtown festival highlights Black-owned restaurants

Tywanda Dupont knows how hard it is to start a small business in Miami.

The self-taught chef, a Miami Beach High graduate known for her decadent brunch items like strawberry mascarpone French toast, is the owner of Ty’s Hometown Cafe & Bistro Food Truck, located at the downtown Miami Brightline station. A mother of three, she understands how difficult it is to grab a bit of the spotlight. After all, she has tried hard to lure customers from tried-and-true familiar national brands like Chick-Fil-A and Joe & the Juice.

Restaurants in neighborhoods like Overtown and Liberty City don’t usually receive the attention that restaurants in Coral Gables or Miami Beach get, she knows. That’s why she’s grateful for opportunities like the Black Pepper Food & Wine Festival.

“It’s just so hard to get exposure,” Dupont says. “Especially if you’re a small business. Black Pepper gives us a chance to be seen and heard.”

Presented by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Miami-Dade County Chairman Oliver G. Gilbert III and the Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust, the festival aims to showcase South Florida’s Black-owned restaurants.

More than 40 restaurants and food trucks will participate this year, including Dupont’s food truck; Lil Greenhouse Grill; Phuse Cream, which specializes in macarone ice cream sandwiches; Perry Wings; Rejoice African Restaurant and Bar; Food Dude Fresh Jerk Grill; Fannoh Flavor, South Florida’s first West African food truck; Tropical Oasis Food Truck; and Smokey Bears BBQ.

The event, co-founded by event producer Alexis Brown and entrepreneur Joel Franklin, who owns Phuse Cream, was created in 2019. This year’s event will also include Black-owned wine and spirit businesses and will feature Black mixologists whipping up some of their favorite cocktails.

Connie Kinnard, senior vice president of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in a statement that the event not only offers a wide variety of food to try but boosts Miami’s economy.

“By supporting this signature event that brings the community together in our historic neighborhoods like Overtown, we also see where the festival energizes the individual talents of Black businesses that contribute to the well-being of our economy,” she said. “Our hope is that every Black-owned business participating in the event has a special opportunity to grow and raise its profile.”

For Dupont, participating in the event last year did improve her business. She participated in the South Beach Wine & Food Festival earlier this year and is looking forward to meeting other Black chefs and learning about their food, their techniques and their cultures.

“We all come from different backgrounds and diverse cultures,” she says. “But we’re all in the same area: food. And food is our love language. This event is about positivity, growth and exposure. Black Pepper doing this for so many Black businesses makes my heart happy.”

Black Pepper Food & Wine Festival

When: 3-8 p.m. Aug. 26

Where: The Urban, 1000 NW Second Ave., Miami

Cost: Entry is free but tickets required; food available for purchase

Tickets and more information: www.blackpepperfoodfest.com