Growing What You Eat At Believe It It’s Vegan

EC Podcast Media · Growing What You Eat

On Saturday, I attended the Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening of “Believe It…It’s Vegan” Restaurant in Smyrna, and if you head over to my Instagram page or TikTok Channel you will see the video and many more pictures.

However, the week before, I had an opportunity to interview Chef Jenesis on Out & About with Antionette podcast and learned more about her journey to this point.

“Who says you have to eat salad for the rest of your life?  That’s a bunch of hogwash which is why Chef Jenesis founded “Believe it…it’s Vegan” in 2022 with the unorthodox idea of creating delicious art on a plate.

 

Chef Jenesis hadn’t always been a vegan, as a matter of fact, she was an avid meat eater, however, one 4th of July weekend, she ate a burger and ended up in the hospital with intestinal issues. She knew that she needed to change her diet or take medications, so she chose the former!  It has been 12 years and it’s now her lifestyle.

 

Chef Jenesis has 7 years of experience in the culinary industry and is bringing the food that you already love by transforming staple food into a delicious vegan meal.  Chef Jenesis is also a culinary instructor at Cookology Culinary in Arlington, VA at Ursuline Academy.  Her unique approach to vegan food prompted her to create a menu for all appetites using fresh organic farm-to-table ingredients that your body and soul will love.

 

Chef Jenesis was a contestant on MasterChef, Season 9, her journey was short but it was an amazing experience with an opportunity to meet some amazing people.  She said that it was one of those “once in a lifetime” experiences like getting recruited to play in the playoffs in football. 

 

Through that experience she was inspired to learn and explore new culinary techniques and ways to bring healthy food to the forefront.

 

Chef Jenesis goes against the grain and lets her soul and heart do the cooking.

 

After leaving the hospital Chef Jenesis really started pushing Veganism becoming a staunch  advocate of growing vegetables, even at home, which she does and has a full Citrus Garden with oranges, pineapples and an ice cream banana tree.  She is an advocate of growing what you eat because our body is a vessel and how you fuel it is important. 

 

The body can heal itself if it’s given the proper foods and nutrients affecting everything including hair growth.  If you put in bad foods you are going to get bad results which is why it’s important not only what you put in your body but what you put on it as well.

 

Like most of us, when Chef Jenesis was a child, she ate anything and everything, but we can’t do that when we get older, as we start to realize the effects and therefore you have to be more mindful!   

 

“So I’m just pushing veganism not only in keeping healthy but because we have to take care of our environment. Not eating meat because animals have souls and offspring too and we are just destroying them because we want to eat them.”

 

“I just don’t want to live that way; I think we need to take care of what is here on this Earth and work together, so that we can be here a little bit longer on this Earth.”

 

Chef Jenesis lived in Illinois, but her family is from Mississippi and North Carolina; her Big Mama is still alive, age 102, and she always had her own garden. Her grandmother Nancy, was a raw vegan, unfortunately she recently transitioned but she too also grew her own vegetables. So just like them, Chef Jenesis knows that you gotta take care of your body so that your body takes care of you. 

 

Vegetables are really healing to the body and Chef Jenesis should know as she went a year without cooking when a mass was discovered in her breasts and the doctors wanted to surgically remove it.  She said, “no” and began eating nothing but vegetables and after several repeat visits and mammograms there were no signs of the mass. 

 

Chef Jenesis is not a doctor nor sharing any medical advice, she just  wants people to eat more vegetables!  Aging is not a factor to bad health, you have to speak love into yourself, you’ve got to feed yourself well and stay focused on everything. 

 

Chef Jenesis’ grandma Manson was a Bald Eagle who never gave advice, she gave suggestions. So her goal is to walk in those big shoes that she created for all of us and her family and make sure that she speaks the truth and pushes a  healthy lifestyle. 

 

Chef Jenesis stated that she feels like she is living “The Truman Show” with the opening of her restaurant, but knows that she is walking in her purpose.  She has wanted to open a restaurant for a long time but the financial fear and backing wasn’t there.  Many of her Angel Investors didn’t believe in veganism and couldn’t see how it would be successful, but she is going to walk in the path that she needs to walk and figure it out as she goes. 

 

She plans on creating and serving some amazing food. Chef Jenesis stated that she “is not coming to play”, and she wants to make sure that you eat right because it’s a serious matter for her and she takes cooking very seriously!

 

She promises that the food that she cooks is going to heal the soul, make the person happy, with her secret ingredient being love. Chef Jenesis is blessed and grateful that this opportunity is coming on October 15th. 

 

Chef Jenesis has been cooking for so long, even doing meal prep cooking and delivering to people’s homes but she never expected the abundance of love and support that she is now receiving.  As a woman with Southern Charm, having only lived in Delaware since 1992, she is the type of person you can walk up to and if you need a hug, she’ll give you a hug.

So she wants people who visit the restaurant to feel like they are in Big Mama’s House. She said that you’re going to eat good whether it’s breakfast, midday or even dessert.  Chef Jenesis is going to make sure you’re happy when you leave her restaurant because it’s a give back…it’s a labor of love.

 

The Grand Opening was October 15th, the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was at 10:00 am and the doors opened at noon with a line out of the door for hours!  The location is One North Main Street, Smyrna Delaware.

 

 

WOW: Words of Wisdom: “Do what you fear. Don’t be afraid to open your mouth and do what you’re supposed to do, live in your purpose…walk in your purpose.