Let's Talk with Leaha & Rhonda

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you're listening to locally produced programming created in KUNV Studios on public radio KUNV 91.5

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the following is a paid program sponsored by Crawford Management Group and Smart Time Consultants. Please be advised that the voices and opinions you may hear do not necessarily represent the views of KUNV Las Vegas, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

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Vegas how are you doing on this beautiful Saturday morning? Leah how are

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you doing? I am amazing thank you for asking I'm not just know I'm tired of seeing crickets. Yeah they all over the place. They all over the place. They are everywhere. I saw so many today it's not even funny. In the morning because you're walking in the morning so I know you see them more early in the morning. Very early in the morning. See right I'm gonna get on the Peloton this week I promise you. You promise? This week. Okay. This week. I'm getting on the Peloton. Okay all you entrepreneurs I hope you have been up and been out for your morning walk this Saturday morning to get that heart pumping and the blood pumping so you'll have a fantastic weekend. I know you're exhausted though because you've been busy all week. Oh yeah I'm walking dead. Sure right because you had bison in Vegas last week. Yeah. How was that? Oh it was fantastic. We had bison from all over the country, New York, Washington DC, Maryland, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Texas. They all came to our town to support our baby bison here.

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And it was fantastic. We had a good time.

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Alright, well that's good to know. That's good to know.

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And this week, I mean, you all are wrapping up this 100 Black Men in Las Vegas, I mean the 100 Black Men of America have been in town all week and they've been over at the Cedars Palace Hotel and a lot of the chapters actually bought their mentees and some of the partners to the 100 Black Men of America like Wells Fargo had several sessions with the mentees. So that was cool. Also the National Coalition of 100 Black Women participated in this week's events as well because they do some special things for the ladies, the wives of the 100 black men of America.

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Well, let's say this Juneteenth is a holiday.

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It is!

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Thank you to the state of Nevada. It is now recognized as a holiday. Thank you for all the legislators that voted to pass it. The governor signed the bill. It is now a holiday.

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So people have Monday off.

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They have Monday off. But if you've got some time today, you know there's a bunch of stuff going on. There's the Expo at the World Market Center today from 4 to 9. If you have a chance, go over there and celebrate. There's also a brunch at the center. You know, that's earlier. That's before the Expo. That's from 11 to 2. And then on the 19th, there's a family night downtown at Ferguson's downtown from 5 to 8. On June 18th, there's another event downtown Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Event Center. Okay. On June 19th, I'm sorry, well on June 18th and then on June 19th is Tofu T's Juneteenth Family Night. That's June 19th, I'm sorry, at Ferguson's. And then on June 23rd, oh God, we're doing a whole bunch of stuff, from Galveston to Texas to Las Vegas. They're going to have a conversation at the Flamingo Library on Friday, June 23rd from 2 to 3.15. I want to tell you, guess what? It wasn't... Yeah, I also want to throw out, if you want to join the Harvard University Bison today, they'll be doing community service at the Helen Tolan Foundation. We'll be going over there. Helen Tolan has an African American museum over on the historic west side. So we'll be going over there today. Right after I leave the show, we'll be going over there to help her do whatever it is she needs help with. So if you want to join us please join us. You know I love Helen Tolan. You do? I love Helen Tolan. Her house, so you're actually going to her house on the historic West Side. Yes. And it's a beautiful person. I just looked at it. She's 97 years old. She is. She is 97 years old. Years young. Years young. Years young. Years young. And when you talk to her she's a wealth of information. Yeah, whole bunch of African statues outside the house. I was just there. Okay, earlier this week. Okay, so I try to get by there at least once a year. But can't wait. Oh, we're gonna have a good time. Now. We're gonna have a good time. Good time. Well, today in the studio, you know, as we said, we are promoting businesses in the Las Vegas Valley, because we understand the importance of supporting our businesses, our local homegrown businesses. Today we have the Black Pot. First of all, I thought the name was interesting. Black Pot. So when I first, because we're taking a class together, Downtown Las Vegas Alliance, they're doing these classes, and I saw this card and I was like, the Black Pot. Huh, I like that. So today we have in the studio Mrs. Lucille Everett and Mr. Melvin Taylor.

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Hello, welcome to the show.

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Hello, welcome, welcome.

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Hello, good morning.

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Good morning.

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All right, so the black pot. First of all, I got to know, where did you get the name from? Well, the name actually came to me because it was just brought back memories of my grandmother. You know, she was always had a pot on the stove.

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There was always something cooking and she always had these seasoned black pots and skillets.

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Seasoned! Seasoned! Seasoned! So y'all, okay so like me if you learn how to cook mm-hmm they tell you you gotta season the pot. That's right. You gotta season the pot. We don't, they don't do that anymore though. Well everything comes you know no everything comes Teflon. That's true. You know Teflon is already done but

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you had to season the pot. Yes you do and there's a certain way you wash them. You don't just throw them in soapy water.

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You know, they'd be all over you.

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You know?

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Oh yeah, but you will know, and especially that's how you know if you were raised by the grandmama and great grandmama, because if you didn't wash that pot correctly, they come get you and say, you got to read them. But no baby, let me show you how to do it, honey.

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Listen, my grandmother's pots and pans were sparkling. Do you hear me? She pulled out an SOS pad after every meal and she washed those pots down.

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They were sparkling.

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Like she never cooked.

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Like she never cooked.

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So I'm like, so did you, Ma, did you really bring that stuff in? Just wink, wink, because this kitchen is too clean.

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Right.

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For it to look like you cooked in this kitchen.

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So the name came from those pots, and also just memories, you know, from the childhood. So when we were thinking about, you know, a name for the business, I just thought, why not just the black pot? Because you know, there's always good things in the black pot.

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That's good.

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Good things in the black pot.

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I like it.

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Now Lucille makes it sound very easy and simple. Like most situations in our black homes and black communities, there's always some debate. We actually started with a different name.

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OK.

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And after much debate, Lucille did simplify it.

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OK.

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And brought it back home and actually connected it to why we even started our business.

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And he got a black black hair.

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So absolutely one of our favorite things. You know us, we've got to go and show off, right? Right. So we had to go and get some gear.

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Okay, okay. Not mad at the gear.

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And not a lot. And we did use a local family friend to get the job done for us. What type of food do you serve? We are Southern soul food and you know we have to be careful even with that because people from that area you can't say soul food to someone from Montgomery, Alabama or you know Atlanta, Georgia or even South Carolina because it's just our regular food, our Southern food. So we're careful to say that when we're out of our, out of, in other company. But Southern Soul Food, our specialty catfish, and we've got a lot of great, rave reviews about that. Our favorite.

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So do you fry the catfish or is it baked catfish?

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Fried catfish.

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Yeah. We have a terrific mix. My lovely wife, Adrienne, who couldn't be with us today, she has a terrific mix that she was able to put together and we put our signatures on that. We also specialize and we've got a terrific collard greens, straight from the south, no pork. We want to make sure that we, our brand is a pork-free brand and we do, although there's a traditional recipes, we make sure that we leave the great taste and are nutrition conscious with our preparation.

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Nutrition conscious, because I'm sure nutrition wasn't the consciousness when they first started making these foods in the Southern Classics. Oh no. Because it was butter, it was oil, it was all that fun stuff. All that fun stuff. The high cholesterol stuff. High blood pressure. High blood pressure stuff. All the stuff that makes it good. Diabetes stuff. All the stuff that makes it good. So I'm looking at the menu here, well not the menu but the pictures. And I see yams, greens, I see muffins. I see pound cake. You want to know what, and I tell fat girls I like cake. That's my biggest thing, I tell people fat girls like cake.

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I like cake.

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I do.

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Chicken and waffles.

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Chicken and waffles. Oh my God. So tell us about you. So where are you guys from?

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I'm originally from Montgomery, Alabama I joined the Navy in the 80s and was shipped out to San Diego where I met my wife who's now a partner in the business and And Lucille of course from St.

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I'm from the Missouri area, but have been in LA since I was six years old.

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So really LA to me is home.

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Okay.

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You know, but my family was from the South.

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Your family was from the South.

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Yeah.

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Now are you the head chef at the in the catering business?

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No, actually, it's a family effort.

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Okay.

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All of us specialize in something.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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That's like the dinner. That's like, you know, family dinner. You know, you make the dinner. But now let's just make macaroni and cheese. Right. Somebody got to make the macaroni and cheese. Exactly. That's my granddaughter. Okay. Okay. See somebody got to make the macarons. Somebody has to make macarons. Somebody got to fry a chicken. Somebody has to fry the chicken. Exactly. And the pork chops and all that stuff. So do you do pork chops?

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So the pork chops not on our menu. Okay. Not in line with our nutrition conscious

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Do you do turkey chops?

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Not turkey chops, but we do turkey parts. Obviously around the Thanksgiving time, we're preparing turkeys. No fried turkeys. I don't want to stop any of your viewers right now. There's plenty of places for that.

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He said no fried turkeys. You do not contact him in November asking him about a fried turkey, because he does not do it.

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But I want to give their contact information is 702-673-3727. But you guys are catering, right?

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Yes, we do operate from a 4D commissary kitchen which is located at the corner of Sahara and Durango, right here in the 89117 zip code, the Lakeside Village Shopping Center. We've been there about a year, but we've been in business this is our third year

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and uh... our focus is on uh... the catering service catering service exactly so basically someone will contact you uh... if they're looking for they want to do a soul food menu they don't necessarily know how to do a soul food menu because everybody can't cook but they want to do a good soul food menu they contact you and then i guess you lay out for them the different things that they can get. Do you serve as well?

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Sometimes.

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That is extra. Most people do like their food just buffet style set up and they'll just have their family and friends or their office workers just serve themselves.

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Okay, that's a good idea. Also, it's catering so it can be for office parties.

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Yeah, we do a lot of office parties.

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Holiday parties.

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Yeah, that's great. So you started this business in 2021 after the pandemic.

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What made you decide to do that?

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It's a long story.

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There are several reasons. One of the reasons I retired. Okay.

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So I'm at the age and I feel like I don't want to cook anymore. Okay. You know, I'm going to the market and there was nothing representing us. And that's really, that was one of my biggest concerns. You know, there's nothing on the shelves that you could just pick up and go, you know, as far as Southern cooking. So I just, you know, we had a family meeting and we discussed a lot of things. And that was one of the reasons that we started.

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Saw a problem and wanted to solve it. Entrepreneurs. Absolutely. Absolutely. So tell me, did you have a business prior to this?

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We have actually had several businesses, but mostly it's been individuals. My aunt had a notary signing service, of which I was a part of that with her. And she's into real estate. She's passed on from us last June. May she rest in peace. Ms. Dorothy Bradley, who's one of our founders and our spirit still is with us today. But we've done a lot of things individually. And so when we were able to come together as a family and put all of our energies into this, it's been a the best experience for me because I've been one like most entrepreneurs, you're in it alone. And in this situation, I'm able to work with my family. I was telling Leah earlier, each of us have our own lanes. And they remind me all the time to stay in my lane. And so I have no problem with that, because I see the energy and the effort that they put forth. And it makes it easier for me to do the things

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that they've asked me to do. And they say that nicely. Just stay in your lane.

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Oh, yeah.

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Just stay in your lane, Melvin. Melvin, get in your lane. That's wonderful to hear that a group of entrepreneurs individually, a family of entrepreneurs, came together to start a business and is running it successfully.

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I love it.

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I love it. It works. So again, the contact information is 702-673-3727. Again, 702.com again that's the black pot 702.com all right you're listening to the let's talk with Leah and Rhonda show I am Leah Crawford I am Rhonda Nolan and we are here with the black pot Las Vegas soul food caterers soul food caterer so it's local, it's family-owned, and it's fresh. That's right. It's fresh. So someone contacts you for a catering order, you basically go grocery shopping for that, like you're going grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, right? It's made from scratch. Right. That's a well stated, Ms. Liv. Yeah, because you're going, because I know me, at some point, you know, the grocery store, going to the grocery store now, I know certain times during the year there is a lot of greens and yams. Do you find it challenging to find those foods now?

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Yes, sometimes.

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Sometimes?

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Especially greens.

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Especially greens?

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Yes, because I know when I go to the grocery store in my area and I'm like you want to know, I know y'all don't have that. Right, exactly.

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I know where I have to go to go get the greens. And another thing that could be challenging is catfish. I was going to ask you what was the catfish like? Because I know that there were several restaurants that had catfish on the menu, and they took it off. Because whoever was providing the catfish to them during COVID went out of business. Right.

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Catfish, it can be challenging. And the price of catfish is challenging also. That's one of the reasons they took it off.

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Now, have you substituted it for something else?

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No.

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No.

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So you leave it at catfish?

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Yeah.

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There's no way. So do you just serve catfish or do you serve other types of fish? Our main menu is catfish and fried chicken. Okay. But we have pot rolls, we have specials, we have oxtails.

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We have all types of things.

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You have oxtails?

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Wow. You know I'm an oxtail fan.

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Yeah. But she's a caterer though so you have to order in advance to have it brought to your house. You can't just swing by her office on Sahara and pick up some.

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Exactly. I'm saying y'all know, because you know every time, because they know that, because if they say they're cooking ox tails, they get a knock at the door, because I'm at the door. So they know when they're cooking the ox tails, you need to make some extra, because if I find out, I'm coming. You're gonna be there. Okay. I'm gonna be there with bells and whistles on, because I just, I like good food. Yeah, we're foodies.

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Okay.

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We love good food.

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Good food.

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Good food. And I'll let you know if the food is not good. Okay. Because then you won't see me again. Okay.

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No, I just keep it. Well, that's a good test. And one of the great things that we've enjoyed in our short business is that we've had a number of referrals.

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And repeat customers.

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And repeat customers. Yes. And we started just at the farmer's market. Bruce Trent was our big venue. And that's where we were able to build our brand, build our customer base. Our Google page has seen a number of good reviews there, as well as Yelp. And so we're having a fantastic time. Our vision is to make everyone a happy eater. And so all the things that we do and want to do within our company is with that in mind. So we're building a team right now. We do have Employee Nevada working on screening some candidates for us. I've been in some meetings with Ms. Leah and we're part of some organizations also looking to build our company up and we want to make sure that we have a different style of not just a different style of soul food catering but a different style of black

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business representative. And you have less waste. That's true, absolutely. It's planned. It's planned properly. And that you want to know what that makes a huge difference. It does in a restaurant in a restaurant business overall. You know you really can't plan it's hard to plan what people are going to buy. Right. And you'll go out of business if people keep on coming and you don't have the food that you have on the menu. Right. Or you have a lot of waste. Or you have a lot of waste because you can't you know you can't serve somebody five day old greens. That's true. I went to a restaurant I won't call his name and they had a special fried lobster tails on their menu. So I went in there and took some people and said oh let's go in here and support that business. He didn't have no lobster tails. He didn't have no lobster tails on a Friday. No. I was like how do you not have the signature dish on a Friday? I didn't understand. But anyway.

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But no, it makes it, but I love it because it's planned.

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So like I said, they go into the grocery store.

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Right.

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A little bit more effort.

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Yes.

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Less waste. Absolutely.

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Got it.

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I love it. I love it. So again, the contact information, 702-673-3727, 702-673-3727.

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www.TheBlackPot702.com www.TheBlackPot702.com So if you have friends coming in from out of town or family members on a weekend and you want to have a spread for 10 or 15 people Contact them and they will put something together for you very nicely. All you have to do is come and pick it up, bring it home, take off the foil and serve. Oh they deliver.

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That's even better. That's even better. So I can act like I cooked it. I can act like it. I can change them you know because they're going to bring in some silver dishes. I'm going to take it and put it in some pretty stuff. And I'm going to throw some stuff on my face and act like I'm you know some water. Act like I'm you know just sweating from running around all day.

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So for all you ladies who are dating and you want to impress your significant other, yeah, you could do that. You could order some food and have them drop it off and you can fix it up pretty and have it ready for your date.

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How about that?

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I like it.

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I like it.

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Just a good idea.

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Y'all hear that right. And we do a lot of holiday menus.

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That's great.

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Do you?

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So holiday time.

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Thanksgiving. We've got an event for those who are looking for an opportunity to enjoy some of our soulful catering, there is an opportunity on July 2nd.

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I don't know if I can do a shameful plug right now.

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Absolutely.

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There is a Gospel and Jazz brunch at the Kev Loves Music Hall right at the corner of Decatur and Sahara.

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Yeah, you know the place.

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I know the place. I've been there.

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Production being put on by St. Croix Marketing Presents. Mr. Alex Thomas, a terrific friend. Go way back. In fact, he's a member of the 100 Men.

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He sure is. I was getting ready to say he's a proud member. He's been a member for almost 20 years.

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100 Black Men. His partner, Ms. Parrish Red, they own the company, St. Croix. There'll be some gospel and jazz performers over there. Kev Love will be the high, what do you call the headliner? And Miss Nikki Logan will be performing as well as Miss Paris Red. So we'll be catering. It's $25 entry, 35 for VIP. And then you'll have the opportunity to make a food purchase inside.

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So. That's great. It's a beautiful event center. Kev Love is another small business here in Las Vegas that opened up right after the pandemic,

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but the place is actually beautiful so yeah you have to check them out check them out and you can check out the food yeah and that date is July 2nd July 2nd 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Kev Love spot on Sahara and Decatur on the second floor to the he has a what can you tell us what they're getting?

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Part of the menu, I believe we can. I know we will be serving some of our traditional things, our catfish, hot out the pot, as my daughter Toya likes to say. We keep that grease cracking.

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I like that.

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We'll also have our chicken dinner, the macaroni and cheese, our signature collard greens will be available. Our yams will also be available. Our honey topped cornbread muffins will be there. And some special treats for our VIP. So we haven't announced that yet, but something special for the VIP.

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You heard that VIP.

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Oh, I like it. I like it. Well, you want to know what? I want to thank you both for taking the time to come in here to talk to us about your businesses. I mean, about your business. Again, it's local, it's family owned, and it's fresh because they're doing the shopping. Y'all don't understand because that's true because the food is fresh the food is not something that you cooked in store you're going to the grocery store you I mean you you clean and green right and if you ever clean greens and clean chicken really clean chicken and you guys are doing so you're doing all the pieces not just wings yeah we do all the pieces you do all the pieces but cleaning you know chicken is a yes it's a task it's a task. It's a task. And cleaning the chicken is family-owned, local, and fresh. And this is the Black Pot Las Vegas Soul Food Catering.

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And they have collard greens, candy yams, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, corn muffins, and chicken and waffles, and then their world-famous fried catfish. I'm looking at it right now, ladies and gentlemen, I think I I wish they were a restaurant because I'd pop in and get something.

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So, you know, that's the first question I asked. Do you want to break your mortar? I did. I'm like, do you want to break a mortar? And what was the answer?

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No, it's not somewhere too excited about right now. OK, how about a food truck that is in part of the business plan?

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OK, see the business plan, ladies and gentlemen. He said that was part of the business plan. So when we talk about putting together your business plan and your forecasting over a five-year period they have done this and they're working on

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their plan I love it all right so the food truck so the food I love the food truck idea I really love the food truck idea because when you get the food truck I want to invite you back on so that we can know where you're going so that we can come by and we can taste the food thank you so that we can come by and taste the food and so yes so Rhonda not because I told you we're foodies. Right. We're foodies and we like to eat. And we like all types of food. Yeah. We really do. We really do. So is there anything special with any closing remarks you want to make?

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No, I just want to tell you, both of you, thank you for, you know, allowing us to come in and talk about our business. It's much appreciated.

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You are so very welcome.

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You are very welcome.

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I do want to just give a shout out to the rest of our team. They're all family, all descendants of Lucille. My lovely wife, Adrienne Taylor, she's our VP and Chief Operating Officer, and our head chef, and our catering manager. Our son, who graduated UNLV a few years ago, he's our Chief Financial Officer, Marquise Taylor, give a shout out to him and his wife Taylor and their beautiful family. A shout out to Russell Miller, his beautiful family. He's our chief compliance officer. Tameka T., beautiful family. She's our chief marketing officer. Lucille is our chief procurement officer, and I don't think I've missed anybody. And I'm Melvin Taylor, the chief executive officer and president, and we want to thank Leah and Rhonda. It's been a wonderful day.

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You know, well, thank you.

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Thank you. I have a real quick announcement. You know, my baby's in town.

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Oh, the old one.

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Oh, and she says, do you know an HBCU senior or recent graduate who plans to apply to law school in the next administration or next admission cycle? If so, check out an organization called Uplift. They help HBCU seniors and recent graduates navigate the law school admissions process. And this year, they plan to take 10 students associated with the program to New York to have conversations with attorneys at the top luxury companies I'm sorry, to have conversations with attorneys at top luxury companies and law firms. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain exposure to those crushing it in the legal field. To learn more, visit them on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram at Uplift Legal. Again, their handle on all social media is Uplift Legal. And I think we talked about Uplift Legal before. So my daughter is an HBCU graduate, And she graduated from Howard Law, got a JD MBA, also Howard undergrad. And she got a scholarship through Hennessey. She was a Hennessey fellow. And in that program, she started Uplift Legal. And what that does is she was mentoring students that wanted to go to law school. So she decided to turn it into a nonprofit. So if you know anyone that needs help, because that law school admissions process I hear is very challenging. Very challenging. Very challenging. It can be done. They're looking to mentor 10 students. They haven't filled the spots. Uplift legal on all social media outlets. With that Rhonda that ends our show for this week again. Again, the time just flew by. Thanks Las Vegas entrepreneurs for listening to us. You will see us next Saturday morning again you've been listening to Leah Crawford and Rhonda Nolan on the Let's Talk With Leah and Rhonda show on 91.5 KUNV peace and blessings. Peace and blessings Las Vegas

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You have been listening to a paid program sponsored by Crawford Management Group and Smart Time Consultants. Please be advised that the voices and opinions you heard do not necessarily represent the

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views of KUNV Las Vegas, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents views of KUNV Las Vegas, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

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