TAMPA, Fla. — August is National Black Business Month, and all month, we’ve been speaking with Black entrepreneurs in our community. I stopped by Da Meat Up, a pop-up vegan soul food stand with the goal of making Southern comfort food healthier.
“So, we are Da Meat Up. We are a fully 100% vegan, plant-based comfort cuisine food business,” Coleisha Bennett, who goes by Chef Starr. “Food brings people together – and music – so, we tried to couple the two together which is why we call it Da Meat Up with a play on words.”
Chef Starr usually sells her food right outside of Black Radish Vegan Grocer in Tampa. “We’ve made it even as far as Connecticut with a pop-up, but we’re all over. As you can see, we have our traveling tent,” she said while smiling.
“I’ve done my research. I’ve done lots of experimenting. Plenty of hours in the kitchen trying to master textures of plants and beans and different things that I could use in place of traditional meat products,” she said.
Her menu is quite extensive with meals including vegan oxtails, fried chicken, BBQ ribs, mac and cheese, collard greens, and red velvet waffles, among other things.
Chef Starr started Da Meat Up in 2020 during the pandemic after getting rave reviews about her plant-based cuisine, but her plant-based journey began about seven years ago after a cancer scare. “They found cells in my cervix and I did research. Diet, everything is diet,” she said.
After a follow-up appointment, she said the doctors could no longer find cancer cells. She took that as a sign to continue her meatless diet. Plus, she said it made her feel better.
“Typically, when we eat meat-based products, you tend to feel sluggish, you know, you feel heavy. I noticed the difference is when I eat plant-based, I have way more energy,” she explained.
As for the best piece of business advice she’s received: “The hardest thing to do is start, but you have to keep going because there are going to be slow days, there are going to be busy days. There are going to be days when you don’t feel like doing it. We were up yesterday prepping and I didn’t sleep. I had to come right back out here today. So, just keep going!”
