Today we’d like to introduce you to Julian Harlin.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Julian. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a business, we’ve served soul under many guises since 2011, having begun our culinary career in offering boxed dinners prepared and sold from my Freshman dorm kitchen at the University of Houston. As a result, Houston’s Good Stuff Catering & Baking was formed. Under Good Stuff, we reached countless clients from 1st Grade students to 1st-time business owners hosting grand openings.
From that, I realized my purpose -to feed the people. I have since strived to nurture and nourish the community spiritually as a Youth Pastor and minister/guide, intellectually as a recent proclaimer of Black/ethnic art and ingenuity, and physically in developing thoughtful and historically inspired dishes which celebrate the very essence of the African American (and Pan-African) influence in the Southern United States.
Having transitioned now to Annie Hall’s Presents: The SoulTrain Mobile Catering, in tribute to my great-great-grandmother, Annie Colbert-Hall, who owned & operated restaurants both here in Dallas and in Terrell, TX offering a menu not too unlike our’s, we present a peculiar catering style. As a mobile catering business, we offer lunch deliveries within the Irving, Dallas, and South of Dallas (Cedar Hill, Desoto, Grand Prairie) areas. Great Soul Food delivered directly to your door! Whew. That’s exciting.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Starting up a business shouldn’t be expected to be easy, but most of those growing pangs are pretty common. I wouldn’t bore you with speaking of the obvious bumps I’ve experienced. Personally, though, I’d say that my greatest challenge has been growing confident with and in the gift I’ve been given to contribute to society, and actually sharing it with pride and dignity.
I haven’t always felt like I belong. For differing circumstances, I couldn’t acquire the schooling and experience other folks were blessed have, and that made me feel inadequate. I’ve had to make my own way -with the help of my family and close friends- and make a lot of mistakes to get here. Here, is the beginning. But I am determined to finish the course; to see the full extent of my gift(s) to the glory of God. And if my work can inspire at least one person to share themselves and their gifts with society, I promise I’ll do it until my last day on this Earth. I am determined to show my soul.
To all reading this, please understand me when I say that you’re gifted! No one can do what you do in the way that you do it, and that’s in-friggin-credible. Because you are able to create, you have a special connection to the Divine, as you replenish beauty and goodness in the world. You Don’t ever lose your grip on that.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The SoulTrain – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Annie Hall’s Presents: The SoulTrain Mobile Catering is born from aspects of creativity, ingenuity, and love. We re-present the Soul cuisine with an understanding that its influence derives from African-America hands, and pay homage to that. We partner what is traditionally regarded as “Southern” with traditionally celebrated dishes of African descent, as a tribute to our ancestors and their specific diets while educating and edifying our community in the warmth of hospitality, as Conrad Hilton so described it.
It is imperative to my people and my culture that we keep this style of cooking alive, as it is at the foundation of our influence in America. We must acknowledge the history and reality that actual culinary representation of the African-American culture does not consist primarily of acceptable “southern” dishes. The original diet involved a piecing together of European techniques (Southwestern Englanders, who settled mostly in Virginia and the Carolinas, had a culture of roasting and frying meats, for instance), Native American ingredient, and African/Caribbean/West Indie flavors, dishes, and soul (creativity).
We’ve got to work preserve that history, but we are also obligated to revive it; to present it afresh, to add ourselves to it; to allow it to evolve and transcend time.
Using fresh and locally procured ingredient with international influences such Caribbean style stewed oxtails and potatoes poured atop cilantro-coconut rice or our house Smoked Catfish served along-side fried plantain and collard greens, we reintroduce Soul Food as a reputable cuisine.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Being a pretty young business, our next few plans involve simple growth. We’re adding to our menu and to our staff, working to engage with as many clients and possible and build networking… normal stuff. But, ya know… watch out for us, Dallas.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.SoulTrainDallas.com
- Phone: (214) 438-0980
- Email: soultraindallas@yahoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soultraindallas/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/soultraindallas
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
