Chef Alisa Reynolds was on the brink of losing her prized My 2 Cents restaurant when she was struck with an idea that would take her career worldwide.
On her eight-episode unscripted Hulu series “Searching for Soul Food,” which dropped on June 2, the Los Angeles-based Reynolds travels the world, shining a light on marginalized cultures as she dines on native cuisines. Hailing from Onyx Collective, the series pushes Reynolds — whose food has been enjoyed by renowned figures such as Barack Obama, Lena Waithe, A$AP Rocky, among others — into the TV space as one of the few Black women to host their own show in the travel and food genres.
Her international journey takes Reynolds through Mississippi, Oklahoma, Appalachia, South Africa, Italy, Jamaica, Peru and Los Angeles, as she connects people from all walks of life and varied backgrounds through one commonality: good meals.
As viewers gather from its first episode, soul food was born out of Black people’s need for survival. That willingness to adapt and the ability to innovate crafted the food that remains a staple of the community. It’s what Reynolds discovers and highlights in each episode and new city.
To quote Reynolds’ words in the series opener: “It’s about making something out of nothing, with sustenance and love in every bite.”
“I came up with the idea during a time that I was having a hard time with the restaurant, and I was about to lose it. It came out of trying to think of a concept, first of all, to take me out of my stress that I was dealing with but also just asking the question what is elevated soul food?” said Reynolds. “I just got to thinking, what does it mean — and how does this make me feel so good when it came from such challenging beginnings?”
Reynolds’ soul food eatery in L.A. was inspired by her parents’ Southern roots and, over time, has become well-known for her twists on classic dishes. The menu includes gluten-free fried chicken, quinoa mac and cheese, and “grits fries,” among other offerings.
Then, she almost lost the restaurant in 2017 after she found herself embroiled in an expensive legal battle with her former business partner. As a result of their legal troubles, Reynolds resorted to a GoFundMe to help raise the funds for their settlement. At the time, Elle reported that she was able to raise over $18,000 online, but her community of high-powered friends offered some assistance as well. Artists Solange and Earl Sweatshirt came together to sponsor a musical event called “Wind and Grind” in order to raise the remaining funds for Reynolds’ case.
Reynolds’ community helped keep her doors open — and that same community opened new doors for her.
Five years before she was able to share her journey across the globe with Hulu, Reynolds sat down with her friend of the last decade, the soon-to-be “Queen and Slim” director Melina Matsoukas. Matsoukas had met Reynolds, whom she affectionately refers to as Chef, through the restaurant which she’d heard of through social media. Their meeting turned into regular foodie outings, and taking adventurous leaps into new realms together — which led to the idea for “Searching for Soul Food.”
After their conversation, they trekked on an uphill battle, as they tried to sell the show and were hit with rejection — that is, until the project reached Tara Duncan, president of Freeform and Onyx Collective.
“It was really like this beautiful coming together,” Matsoukas said of their relationship with Onyx Collective. “Black women supporting Black women and our stories — and being able to tell our own stories, and expand that.”
Matsoukas continued: “So many of my projects are focused on stories about people of color, but if you don’t have people on the other side that can relate to them and see the value of the story for the audience and serving that audience, then it’s really hard. Or if they do take it, maybe you don’t get as big of a budget, or the same kind of value, obviously, that somebody from that same world will see and understand.”
But somewhere in between eating squirrel in the Appalachians and tasting bison meat in Oklahoma, Reynolds found a piece of “her people” in every new plate she tried and conversation had. In her conversation with Chef Nico Albert in Oklahoma, she connected fry bread (which was created in response to Native Americans’ struggle after being displaced by the U.S. government) to Black Americans’ use of hot water cornbread. In Peru, she found a melting pot of cuisines which hailed from the roots of indigenous people, enslaved Africans, Japanese and Chinese laborers and Italian immigrants crafted new recipes and passed them down.
Still, out of all the discoveries she’s been able to uncover, Reynolds’ says the biggest lesson from her experiences has been patience and to recognize and accept her potential for greatness.
“I say we ‘threat-proof’ our lives, and know that people make mistakes. I used to always think ‘that wasn’t good enough,’” Reynolds said. “It’s [‘Searching for Soul Food’] that taught me that my words are moving people, and I had something to do with that. It takes me back to my debutante ball, and my talent was a stand-up comedian. I look back on my little self — and clearly, I wasn’t afraid then.”
“Pat yourself on the back, and understand that when you’re talented, you may not always see it,” Reynolds continued. “Every day, I feel like I learned a new lesson about my storytelling.”
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