Taste of Soul (TOS) is where you will find some of the best food vendors from around Southern California. If you’re looking for good BBQ, TOS has some of the best finger-lickin’ cue around. Smokin Telle’s BBQ and Grill are the new kids on the TOS block and ready to wow the crowd with their BBQ.
Sintelle Ammons-Taylor and Ronald H. Taylor, Sr. are the owners of Smokin Telle and their staff is the reason to thank for their presence at TOS this year.
“Even though we’ve only been open for business for 7 months, our team members really pushed for us to participate in Taste of Soul,” stated the Taylors. “This will be our first time—we were delighted to hear they wanted to participate.”
Born and raised in South Los Angeles, Sintelle attended Carson High School and UCLA for undergraduate and graduate studies. She went on to attend Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and France, where she received her degree in Cuisine. She was owner of A-TaylorD Affaire Gourmet Catering, which she started in 2001. While the company no longer caters, she continues to cater to select private clientele.
“Our cuisine is prepared, daily, with fresh ingredients,” stated Sintelle. “Nothing is frozen or preserved—that’s how I was trained.
“The best food is fresh food made from high quality ingredients.”
Located at 8472 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, Smokin Telle’s BBQ and Grill prides itself on being a community business, not only offering good food but being an example of giving back to the community.
“Because we grew up in the area, it was very important to open our first restaurant in the community that taught us to value hard work,” said Sintelle. “We wanted everything about the business to incorporate the community surrounding the restaurant.
“Our team members are community residents, we want to employ those most in need of employment.”
So, what’s in store for those of us who decide to consume BBQ from Smokin Telle’s BBQ and Grill? Good food apparently, the kind you daydream about and they are fulfilling that fantasy. According to their website, we’re talking about choice cut meats, specially-smoked with southern sides such as potato salad, five-cheese macaroni and cheese, sweet beans with burnt ends, collard greens, yams and more…
You hungry yet?
And all of this is done with love, dedication and top-level training to bring customers the best food experience possible.
“We begin at 6:00 am each day,” said Sintelle. “Everyone in the kitchen participates in the prep process to ensure all the ingredients are ready for the day’s bounty.
“The pastry chef’s prepare the crust daily, the specialty desserts, the cobblers, the grill masters prime and prep the meat 48 hours in advance, the sous chef meticulously preps all the ingredients for the ‘Fixins’ to ensure quality and consistency.
“We [take] great care to ensure our food is top quality. Some of our dishes are the same recipes we used when hosting President Obama, General Patreas, Governor McGreevy and countless others.
“We took great care to ensure our clients cared for in the same way.”
As recently stated, this will be Smokin Telle’s BBQ and Grill first Taste of Soul and they are excited to be able to share their cuisine with TOS Nation.
“We are thrilled and excited to join a wonderful community of Black businesses, entrepreneurs, entertainers, public servants, and creatives as we celebrate the power of economic development in the Black Community,” said the Taylors.
Be sure to stop by Smokin Telle’s BBQ and Grill booth at Taste of Soul October 19! For more information, please visit https://www.smokintellesbbq.com/
For more information on Taste of Soul, please visit tasteofsoul.org
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