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Rustic vegan gourmet prepared & served by a southern soul aiming to break bread w/ plant-based love.
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23/04/2025

There I go.

Ta**us Season.

Peace Up.

A-Town Down.

Rotations.

29/03/2025

It’s a brunch kinda blackout window shades down late winter snow day kinda day. This plate hit that spot oh so well & I needed the time in my kitchen studio to remember how much I love feeding my people.
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This entrepreneurial hustle is— a different world, let me tell you. It’s had me booked & busy this winter to say the least; and I am beyond grateful. Acclimating to the schedule & putting my all into the hard work of indoor crops has def had me w/ very little energy for the kitchen. And the grind to keep thangs on track & proper for that business’ future goals & edible program is— no doubt full of those perpetual high stress risks & reconfigurations that living in professional independence can often require. To say the least, the business of my small food business is still—hibernating.

So. I’m defining my now under new license as caregiver & my food business’ upcoming season w/ new event protocols. You should be able to find some yummy items being sold on a couple of my favorite farms & Suckah Punch food cart at a pop up event or two. For the most part though, I will be more exclusively available for clients/venues to apply for dates. So if you have an event The Greenhouse would be perfect for, hmu so we can talk deposits to book dates & minimum plate orders.

Until then…Ima just keep breaking these glass ceilings that seem to encase entrepreneurs at all times, working hard &….making freaking amazing brunches for me & My Man, watching favorite reruns & exhaling on my day off🖤🌱

25/01/2025

Contemplating a sixth season is proving to feel like high stepping the bog w/out proper gear or any stamina. My professional journey from Atlanta to Maine has been. Is. Very tough. Still. It more often than not makes me feel like I am simply not enough. Takes me too long w/ each wave to remind myself that— I am worth. I. Am. Worth.

My motivation & drive get tied to my confidence like anchor, when all I want to do is fashion a sail & catch the wind until I reach my shore. I see my business plan & attempts to diversify off of the food cart so clearly. But when it comes to knowing how to execute & who to ask for help? Now that is so fleeting that frustration overwhelms quickly. It’s like daily, my dreams hit. Like pangs for a fruit that you can grow. That blossoms in full capacity almost instantly then immediately wilts & gets lost in foliage like a beautiful line of poetry you forget to write down.

Six years is something. But the capital to reinvest is. Nothing. I have worked most common ideas until the dough is stiff & unpleasant. Watching other people so assuredly grow their businesses is so inspiring. But I feel broken when I try to consider how it looks for me. There is no cookie cutter business plan that I’m interested in, but there has to be a happy medium to feeling so inept at creating my own. So. I am thankful for those who have received my lightbulb moments & have responded providing outlets of belief to keep the light on for another season. If I can find the fuse box & battle the power outages, so to speak.

I haven’t found the know-how or fortitude to sew these threads for year 6. Yet. Still in the gray area. Timelines feel. Like a vertical climb atm. For now. I’ll still be by the wood stove letting ideas incubate & confidence cool & thicken. I am having a cooking block, if you will—so until I can connect back w/ the kitchen in a real way, just know…I’m still here. You’ll be able to find me this season somewhere around the way….so…stay tuned, neighbor.

27/12/2024

“There [is] nothin’ in my wallet just a lot of dreamin’…” but at least the holiday plates were full:

SCALLOPED POTATOES w/ House Cashew Parm, Vegan Béchamel & HAND SLICED Yukon Golds.

BLANCHED GREEN BEANS w/ Toasted Almonds, Sun Dried Toms, House Cashew Parm, Balsamic Reduction.

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES & PEARS, Toasted Pecans, Fresh Sage, Marjoram & Parsley, Lemon, Brown Sugar.

LOCAL MUSHROOM GRAVY w/ & all the thick, fresh herb gravy goodness.

SAO SWEET SOUTHERN CORNBREAD w/ a beautiful golden crust & the softest yummiest cakey bites.

These dreams sure do taste good🖤

23/12/2024

The kitchen. My studio. Food. Cooking. Have been a very real collective sad sore spot for me for several months now. Just getting by meal wise. I mean, even that for me & mine is delicious quality, but, the professional cook & small biz owner in me has been—introverting on introspective. I miss my family & ATL homies something fierce, so prepping to set at least someone’s holiday table this year where my Xmas Eve can be spent filling the house w/ yummy smells & a little extra for our table, is more right on time than I thought.

2024 brought more than 4 months of having to heal w/out really being able to book gigs so I could find specific therapies for the now compacting injuries of food cart life. The transition of mindset to find new platform feels—welp, just still percolating. So. Private Exclusive Catering Xmas Client reorder again this year—feels like a great creative way to bring some love back to my studio for the holidays🎄🖤

Thanks for ordering up again, neighbor.

10/11/2024

Something I just found while reviewing notes to be sure I purge the words no longer serving me and the me for WE. These ones seem to still be floating…

[Def a line or two that give much introspection on why my shoulder is locked up & frozen;]

* * * * * * *
Note to Self:
Stop trying to shame yourself for who you are in your professional acumen. You know your limits and you put in years trying to work in spite of them, in opposition to them. To the point of breaking. Those pieces are nearly all too serious for most, taken as stern instead of focused, taken for granted because of high anxiety, when if all were accepted and maximized, s**t would perpetually get done.

Like an oxygenated cell.

And while those pieces hold the gravity that you also could not withstand (the shoulder press that often embarrasses, the aggressive releases of passion that prevent speaking at all for fear of, well, others’ fear)— it is time to accept them; not as traits that make you less of a business woman, but as unique approaches that allow mental stability for effective work. The world does not work like you do. Many will not understand.

You are not an excuse.
You. Are. Brilliantly.
Self-Aware,
and open about it.

Advocate for self.
Push past the compulsive thoughts causing extended pause.

You are business appropriate.

02/11/2024

Don’t mind me. I’m just perched over here eyes closed holding my breath until hunting season quits flooding my timelines💔

17/10/2024

I need to call this season officially closed. Please find your way to Munjoy Hill on the 26th for Portland’s VEG FEST! I’m sorry I can’t make you one more plate, but until I can…

Thank you.

To everyone who has ever believed in me and my food. To those who understand good plates are good plates w/out acting as if I’m serving up spoonfuls of politics b/c those who really know me, though they be very few, know that’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m just making layers of flavor w/ ingredients I can source for the personal diet I endorse, food made from the hard work of neighbors who know that breaking bread should not be fast or furious, but a humble opportunity for unity w/ self and community. Thank you to those who realize the cart is my studio and respect the boundaries sometimes set so that I can work hard, create & present a beautiful minuet. The dance between myself and the plates carrying the pieces of me that I can gift you so that we can be a WE. That. Has always been the mission and I am ready to sink into this transition of seasons because the how and the where need some revision.

So again I say thank you, to the journey and collaborations, the venues, clients and opportunities. And most importantly the farmers and my family. This fifth season has been one of pulling back and working to believe I can find a way to keep all of us in the green, so I am going to take a long moment to breathe—The Greenhouse by SAO, est. 2019.

Locally sourced rustic plant based gourmet. Southern Soul. Plant Based Love. You won’t miss a thang.
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I can’t pop up for season closer to share a smile & feel your shine one more time this season. I have decided to pull out of the Veg Fest to put in real focus on the recovery of my shoulder. Thankfully I will be able to put in time at home on some physical therapy w/ weekly doctor visits on a holistic path to gain my movement back, but I don’t want to risk further damage halfway through the first month of that recovery. I have enjoyed serving you for another season. I am unsure exactly where or how I will set the table for us again, so until that hopeful day, stay warm and love your loved ones this winter, my friends.

16/10/2024

Check out the keynote for next weekend’s Veg Fest in Portland! What an amazing line up for this beautiful event.

***Please know, I am scheduled to pop up & am so proud to continue to be included in this great movement—HOWEVER STAY TUNED! My shoulder injury has not healed at all & my mobility/productivity/sleep are greatly hindered. This has been the case at this point for months & my stress levels are peak. I am finally heading for an X-ray & initial diagnosis today—I will keep y’all posted on whether I will be able to maintain this gig. Thank you for any understanding & I truly do hope to make you a plate to close out my season w/ what is now my traditional season closer. I will be very sad to miss it, if I need to—so all healing energies my way would be so appreciated🌱🖤
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Check out & for the full post & article. And DEF mark your calendars for Veg Fest in Portland 10/26!

03/10/2024

Louder for the people in the back🔊

15/09/2024

This week will be my largest preorder filled to date. Inclusive of real time service of the largest plate count to date. And when I say large, I mean extra, EXTRA L A R G E. One list at a time. One menu item at a time. One inventory order & pick up at a time. Just. Keep. Moving. Is all I can do. With so much gratitude to be asked to return to this venue & their annual events series for the 4th year in a row, probably the 8th or 9th pop up for them where they make it possible so that all I have to do is park, set up & cook. Once I can get there—it’ll all be downhill. Buuuuuuut….gettin’ therrrrrreeee though?!?

The anxieties are DEF creepin’ in, ‘cause this solo week-long inventory run having to ask farmers if they have, oh ya know, like 100+ bunches of herbs & such🫣 This weeklong prep w/ one whole day dedicated to one item at a time due to sheer volume & the need to have 2 full size trucks to head to venue next weekend just to barely fit the plate count. Yeah. All of that. Gonna be protein & super greens for breakfast every day to survive this!

The cost to be the boss🫨

12/09/2024

This. From the stance of a small business owner & woman in small business. Ooph.

I’m. Working.
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1. Professional boundaries are healthy, not to mention mandatory for efficiency. Working to uphold them is good business practice.
2. It is more than ok to be a serious, very focused, head down, shoulders up, eyes straight business person on a mission to meet deadline.
3. There is nothing offensive in being able to try to set professional boundaries/expectations clearly, directly, non-emotionally, while still practicing professional courtesy & offering troubleshooting suggestions as you keep it moving. It’s also ok to draw the line b/t what is your responsibility & what is theirs. It’s business.
4. If they get offended by your work mode—“it’s just what they be on” ( ). Do you. At all times.
5. Most people have zero clue how much focus it takes to get it done. Let them keep not getting it. YOU. Keep your focus.
6. Getting paid for your hard work & deliciously beautiful plates is not them doing you a favor.
7. Being fluid for inevitable challenges does not mean being taken for granted. Your time is valuable.
8. The plates are my love language. I am not part of the entertainment—a kitchen is a kitchen & I am a line cook.
9. Cooking & serving & working crazy hard in a gold fish bowl where w/out fail, some people just gotta insert themselves—is not a game. My anxiety is very, very real & I also don’t need to be “fixed”. I’ll let my shoulders down, when the feedback from amazing bites is give & that Short Hitch Suckah Punch is ready to tow & I’m headed home.

I’m. Working.
And it’s a lot.

There’s more love than you can even know in them plates. I promise you’ll taste it & it will all make sense, but I, myself, don’t have to make sense or “fit in” to feed the people. Great food. Is great food.

Sucker Punch:
5 Seasons Being Breathless
SAO

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Thanks for the inspiration ✨

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http://thegreenhousebysao.com/

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