(uplifting music) - Get ready to embark on a journey of flavors, warmth, and the joy of comfort cuisine.

We're talking comfort cooking, coming up next on "Inspire".

(inspirational ambient music) - [Announcer] "Inspire" is sponsored by the Estate of Ray and Ann Goldsmith.

- [Announcer Two] And the Raymond C. and Marguerite Gibson Foundation and... - [Announcer] Friends of KTWU.

We appreciate your financial support, thank you.

(upbeat music) - Hello, welcome to "Inspire".

I'm so excited to be back with my Co-Host, Danielle Norwood, Leslie Fleuranges, and we're so glad you're here.

We're diving into the heart and soul of comfort food.

We're indulging in the warmth and deliciousness of comfort cooking, sampling the cuisine of area chefs.

- Gee, I'm hungry already.

Everyone has their own comfort food favorites, those dishes that evoke warm, fuzzy childhood memories spent with family.

- On today's show, we're joined by Chef LaVale Jackson of 7.8.5.

Kitchen who's here to tell us more about comfort food classics that he serves and where he gets the inspiration for the dishes that he creates.

Welcome to "Inspire", Chef LaVale.

(hosts cheering) - Wow, it smells so good here.

- It does.

- We are loving it.

- Thank you so much.

- I know I don't see how I'm supposed to be interviewing when all this is going on around us, but I'll try to ask a question so tell us about 785.

Where did you get the inspiration for your restaurant and how long have you been in business?

- Yes, yes, yes.

So we've been in business for about two years and about six months now, almost three years so hopin' we can keep going out as well.

But I got the name 7.8.5.

Kitchen from our area code.

So our area code is 785 and I knew I wanted to have an area for people to see our kitchen at, so I wanted to put both of them together, simple and easy, put it out there and then I knew people would see the kitchen and they come in.

Even if they didn't know what it was, they'd be coming in just 'cause they saw the kitchen name.

So, yes, yes.

- Every time I've gone by there the place is packed.

- Yes.

- And with good reason.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes, ma'am.

- Oh my goodness and now we wanna know, a lot of our viewers will know you from Washburn Football.

- Yes, yes.

- So how do you make the jump from Washburn football to being a chef?

- Yes, yes, I pretty much always had an idea of pretty much owning a restaurant or owning a little small kitchen and stuff like that.

So once I got the opportunity, after I was done with school and stuff like that, I jumped into it.

I was always, when I was young and then hopefully I can keep doing it in the future and stuff like that so yes, ma'am.

- So where'd you get your recipes from?

How do you know how to cook?

- [Chef LaVale] Yes, yes.

- Football, cooking, is that it?

- So my mom and my grandma were both cooks growing up a lot so like I was always in the kitchen when they were cooking and stuff like that too, as well.

So all this stuff is family recipes, I grew up cooking all this stuff like that.

So it makes it a lot easier for me when I get in the kitchen and start cooking, 'cause I can just start cookin'..

I don't really like when I season my food, I don't measure and stuff like that.

But hey, that's a little trick, trick of the trade.

I try to tell people if you know, if you know how to measure your stuff, then you know how to cook pretty good.

So that's how I do my things and all my stuff comes out pretty good.

And you know, I like how I season my food up and everything too as well.

My family taught me that so I follow my family's rules and everything like that and it comes out perfect and fresh, so yes, yes.

- And I'm gonna amen to that on- - Yes, ma'am, yes.

- Again, if you have to measure, we gonna have to pray for you.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes, yes.

- For real on that.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes.

- You have brought us a glorious assortment that we are gonna get into at some point.

I don't know when because it's teasing us but what did you bring today?

- Yes, yes, so right here we got some Cajun Alfredo right here.

It's a homemade Alfredo sauce and with some fettuccine Alfredo noodles.

And then we got some homemade cornbread.

We got some homemade red beans and rice, and some homemade fried chicken.

So yes, yes, yes.

The beans will even start from dried beans.

We soaked 'em and the rice is homemade yellow rice as well, too so... - Nice.

- Everything here, everything is made from fresh and made from scratch, so yes, yes.

- So what is your- - No, go ahead.

- What is your best selling item?

- For sure, our catfish and right behind that would be our oxtails for sure, without a doubt.

Yes, we sell catfish probably all day long from DoorDash, to walk-ins, to call-ins and stuff like that.

And on Fridays, oxtails go out the door.

We sell out every Friday on oxtails.

- Oh, so you do DoorDash too?

- Yes, yes, we do delivery.

We try to hit every avenue we can, definitely, for sure.

Yes, yes, yes.

- I can get me some oxtails through DoorDash, okay now.

(everyone laughs) - Tell us about oxtails.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes, yes.

- What is oxtail?

- Yes so, well, to start off, a ox is pretty much just like a matured cow.

- [Betty Lou] right.

- An ox is a working cow so I just tell people, it is an ox's tail or a cow's tail.

You know, once you process your cow and you have the tail left, you can chop it up and in the middle you got your bone and all around it is your beef, which is just your meat.

And I tell people that are scared of the name oxtails, it just tastes like beef pot roast, eat it with some mashed potatoes or rice, and have your sides and it's great.

- Yeah.

- Oh my gosh.

- Yes, yes.

- Now has it been an education to try to get people to understand that?

Cause again, growing up in our culture, it's no big deal to have some oxtails, but I mean, when people hear oxtail, they're look looking at you like, "Okay, what heck are you trying to..." But I mean now it's like become your favorite.

- Yes.

- [Danielle] At the restaurant, talk about that.

- Yes, yeah it definitely is a little bit harder to explain it to people when they never tried it or never have it.

That's why I give 'em the analogy of, it tastes just like beef pot roast.

But when I tell 'em if you ever had beef before, it tastes just like beef.

Don't be scared of the name, don't be scared of what it looks like.

Eat it with some rice, eat it normally and then the flavors and the smell, and aroma and everything like that's gonna catch you.

So yes, for sure.

- It's so tender.

- Yes, yes fall off the bone.

I'll tell you what, fall off the bone - Speaking of aroma, when you took the lid off of this chicken, it is just like, oh my gosh.

It was just like...

Smell it out there for you guys.

But you know, does it evoke all those memories of cooking in your own kitchen with your family?

- Oh for sure, yes, yes.

Every day I'm cooking in the kitchen, even when I get busy I'm always like, man, I know if my mom, my grandma see me doing this, they'd be like, "I knew you could do it, boy."

So yes, yes, for sure.

- Yeah.

- So all that, me cooking, everything is an inspiration.

It's definitely from my family and everybody that's in my family too as well.

So I love to put it out for my family and for the people in the community too as well.

Cause in Topeka we don't have a lot of soul food, so like actual authentic soul food, like home cooked stuff, we don't have that so I wanted to hit that market and hit that avenue as hard as I can until like we got like...

So now we got smoked turkey legs, smoked turkey necks too as well.

We do the oxtails, we do smother chicken, smother pork chops and stuff like that.

So we do like the whole nine yards of the soul food and we're gonna keep going with more stuff too as well.

- Yeah.

- So what do you think most people consider comfort food?

- Yeah, for sure, I would say people consider comfort food mostly food that after you eat it, you sit down, you feel comfortable and you're ready to lay back and just take a nap, you know?

That's the simple- - Take a nap.

- Yeah, simple and easy, after you eat your food, you get comfortable, you sit down and take a nap, and you enjoy your time with your family and everything like that too as well.

So yes, for sure.

- Sometimes we call it the itis.

- There you go!

(everyone laughs) Yes, I tell people about the kitchen all the time.

You got that fooditis, 'cause people are like, "I can't eat your food all the time.

My lunch makes me wanna go to sleep."

Yep, you get that fooditis, I know, I know.

- But you know, that can be any time of year.

- Yes.

- It doesn't have to just be associated with cold weather.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes.

- I mean here we're, you know, getting into summer and it's just wow.

- Yes ma'am, yes ma'am.

- You know the funny thing about oxtails too is my family, part of my family is from Barbados.

- [Chef LaVale] Okay.

- So in the West Indies, oxtails is big deal.

- [Betty Lou] Wow.

- So I'm surprised being in such a beef part of the country that people are not more aware of oxtails.

- Exactly, me too as well.

Me too, yes, yes.

But I'm trying to get 'em culture and to get 'em all... Set a line with the oxtail for sure.

When they come into our restaurant for sure.

- I'm sorry it's not Friday or else we would've... (everyone laughs) - It's all good.

- We're one day off!

- It's all good, it's all good.

- Do you ever get tired cooking?

- I wouldn't say I get tired of cooking, maybe cooking back to back but the actually cooking aspect of everything, I love it.

That's my joy and that's my light, definitely my passion.

So I wouldn't say I ever get tired of that, but some days, you know, we get busy, and everybody gets tired when they get busy but I never get... - [Betty Lou] So are you the sole cook?

- Yeah, I am the only cook there, but I have some other people helping me cook now.

Eventually we're gonna get some more and more people but I am the Head Chef there.

- [Leslie] Okay.

- Wanna make sure all the food gets out good and everything like that before we put out anybody else going.

So yes ma'am, yes, yes.

- And for those watching who don't know where 785 is... - [Chef LaVale] Yes.

- We know it's south but... - Yes so 7.8.5.

Kitchen is located at 2028 Southwest Gage Boulevard, right across the street from Schlotzsky's.

And then we're right next to the eye doctor, right by that Jimmy John's on 21st and Gage, I believe so.

- [Announcer] Okay.

- Yes.

Yeah, so you guys can look us up on Facebook, even type us in on Google and stuff like that too.

We have a website, Instagram, and Twitter.

So you can find us on all social medias and stuff like that too as well.

- And DoorDash!

- And DoorDash as well, yes.

If you guys wanna sit at home and get your food at work, definitely get on DoorDash, yes.

- I love it.

- Oh, LaVale.

We've got more deliciousness after the break as we continue our discussion with LaVale, stay with us.

(upbeat music) - We're back, we've been talking with Chef LaVale of 7.8.5.

Kitchen and you know, families are just busy, moving.

You've got parents moving around, busy with their work schedules and of course kids have their own school schedules and afterschool extracurricular activities.

So sometimes the family table is the only time everybody gets together.

- Yes.

- Do you have any like quick and easy options for people to put together for like meals so they're not spending all of their time in the kitchen and they can put something together real quick?

And economically that can bring the family together?

- For sure, I would say one thing for sure to get a lot of food for a lot of money... Well, for your bang for your buck, for as much food as you can get.

You guys some, you know, you know kind of cheap noodles and stuff like that.

A little bit of heavy cream and a little bit of cheese.

Make you some Alfredo and then get you a cheap protein.

Mix both of those together, and then you can have a little bit of bread.

That's a perfect and a quick and easy meal right there that you can make a lot of and have it save, and it still be good to reheat and warm up for the next day or for lunch or anything like that too as well.

So yeah, I would definitely say that.

Or get you some rice and then...

I always tell people, get you some rice and some beans, and then some cornbread and that's always a dish right there.

And throw you a little turkey leg in there and have you some meat and that's... Hey, that's a perfect dish for you too as well, so yes ma'am.

- And some examples of what you brought to us today, hello.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes, yes.

(cheerful crosstalk) - I mean this is just amazing you guys.

This is just lovely.

- [Danielle] It's so good.

- And okay, the cornbread, that's like a staple.

- Oh, yes ma'am, you gotta have some cornbread.

- Is there a secret that you have?

- I would say with...

Yes there is a secret with the sweetness, I put a little bit of syrup in there too as well with a little bit of vanilla too as well.

So that's a little bit of secret right there that I don't know if everybody adds, some people add like a little bit more sugar or brown sugar, or like honey, add the syrup and the vanilla.

You get that both of the little tones of the sweetness and the vanilla too as well so, yeah.

- And it's so moist.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes, yes.

- Oh my gosh.

- This is melt in your mouth.

- Yes ma'am.

- And I can see where you'd get the... You know, what'd you call it?

The itis?

- Yes, ma'am.

(everyone laughs) - Okay.

- The fooditis, yes.

(everyone laughs) - That's if you eat enough of it, hello, lights out.

- Oh yes, yes.

(everyone laughs) - I mean, so how do you stay so fit and trim with all of this food that you're... - Well, I work a lot of hours and then I shoot, I bust out as much food as I can and I snack on the way.

But yes ma'am, well, I got a good metabolism I guess (everyone laughs) Because I do eat, I'll tell you what, I do eat.

- [Betty Lou] You eat your own cooking?

- Oh, yes ma'am, yes, yes, yes.

When I first opened I was eating my food probably every day.

It's getting a little bit old now but I still be grubbing definitely.

For sure, there's no doubt about that.

- So what are your hours?

- Oh yeah, sorry.

- Oh yeah, our hours for sure is 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM, last orders is around 7:45, 7:50.

If we have a catering or something like that, we might be closed.

Sometimes we open up after a catering and stuff like that but most days open from Tuesday through Sunday, 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM last orders around 7:45, 7:50.

- So great, so you do do catering as well, right?

- Yes ma'am, we do, do the catering as well.

We just did a catering to Lewis Toyota, I think it was.

- [Betty Lou] Okay, nice.

- Yes, yeah, we catered to about 60 people over there.

They got some jambalaya, some grilled chicken, fried chicken, I think they got some collard greens and some salads.

So yeah, they got a pretty good assortment of food, yes.

- [Betty Lou] What about dessert?

Have you any... - Oh yeah, for sure.

Actually, yeah, so actually this is a family dessert we make all the time for our holidays and stuff like that.

It's called gooey cake, so we have a lot of assortments of gooey cakes at our kitchen as well so gooey cake it's a...

So the bottom is a cake mix and then we cook the cake mix and the top is a cream cheese filling.

And we do original, strawberry... We have a original, strawberry, butter pecan, and a banana pudding flavor as well.

(hosts gasping) Strawberry's our number one seller but I would say definitely try the strawberry, banana pudding one, and the original, those are definitely great, yes, yes.

- Now do you do something special for the holidays?

I know that there are restaurants that like will specialize in a fried turkey for Thanksgiving.

Do you have something special that?

- [Chef LaVale] Yes ma'am, yes ma'am.

- For like those of us who don't necessarily wanna make a turkey.

- Yes, yes.

- Can say, "Hey, LaVale..." - Yes ma'am.

- [Danielle] Can you hook up some meat for me?

- Yes ma'am, yes ma'am.

Any holidays you guys need to fried turkey or something like that.

I always ask people, just give us $25 and a turkey, we get it all seasoned up for you and we fry it up for you.

- [Danielle] Nice.

- You guys come pick it up, if you want us to cut it up and everything like that and get it carved up for you, we can do that too as well so- - [Danielle] Ham too?

- Yes ma'am, we can do the ham too.

We get that all roasted up and everything like that too as well.

We can throw it on a smoker too or we can bake it for you guys so yeah, for sure.

- Nice!

- We can do... We try to do a lot of things, yes, yes.

- That's awesome.

- Doing it all.

- It's like, where have you been all my life.

- Yes, yes, yes that's funny, yes ma'am.

- So how about for this coming holiday we have, you know, the summertime coming and July 4th barbecues and things like that.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes, yes, yes.

- Any special things you're doing for the holiday?

- Yes, we wanna try to get a special day on probably like a Saturday or a weekday... Or a weekend day with a smoked brisket or something like that that we can get on there.

(hosts praising) So I wanna get a brisket day and then maybe like a smoked chicken day, or a smoked rib day or something like that.

But it's gonna be like a smoke day on the summer days for sure, so yes ma'am.

- Why is it so important to keep this alive and to keep... Just keep cooking in general?

A lot of people just want to, you know, microwave something.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes ma'am.

- Why is this important?

- Well, it's always good to learn how to cook and learn how to, you know, be self-efficient as well.

And then finally, going to the grocery store I used to always hate it, but you always go to the grocery store, you can find a good deal and then that's always a good way to, you know, save your money, don't spend your money at places that aren't really cooking real food and stuff like that.

But as well, culture-wise, you know, with my family we always like to keep our culture going as well with our food and everything like that.

'cause you can share food with any pretty much anybody in the world and you know, you can make friends like that too as well.

So I would say definitely that's one way, one thing to keep in mind as well, when you have your food and with your culture.

You know, bring your food and your culture, and you can always make friends that way too as well.

That's always a big inspiration as well too.

- It helps bring everybody together.

- It's always a big inspiration.

- Cause I don't know anybody who can come to a table and not make friends.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes, yes.

- You know, it is a great equalizer where we're all sharing the plate and there's love around table.

- Especially when it's this good.

- Exactly, yeah (everyone laughs) cause if the food is bad then that's whole other thing.

- People leavin' early.

- Tell me now, you know, we as a culture black folks, we have our high blood pressure, all of this- - [Danielle] Diabetes.

- [Chef LaVale] Yes.

- Exactly, you know- - [Chef LaVale] Yes ma'am.

- And so when you say that you're cooking and you wanna make sure that food is healthy, is that what's in the back of your mind.

- Yes, ma'am, yes, ma'am.

- [Leslie] You when creating these recipes?

- Yeah, for sure, yes, yes.

We try not to use as much salt and stuff like that as well with our food and everything like that.

We try to go less on the salt.

And then with all our food and stuff like that, I try to get the non like antibiotic stuff and stuff like that.

And then like the more fresh stuff, you know, the grass fed stuff and everything not with the process... Now with all the processed foods, feeding the cows and the chickens and all that stuff as well, 'cause that helps as well with your, you know, the longevity of your health as well too, as well.

So we try to hit those avenues as well.

You know, sometimes we can't get like the the better stuff as well, you know, 'cause it's a little bit more expensive.

But we definitely try to get the more healthy stuff, the more efficient stuff for your body as well, so yes.

- But you could not tell with anything that... - Yes, yes, yes.

- I mean this is the great fake out 'cause I would not have noticed anything, any differences.

- Right.

- With what we've eaten it's beautiful.

- And the only reason why we haven't finished everything on our plate is that we're trying to be... - We're trying to polite.

- Yes, we're trying.

- And we have a bunch of hungry crew behind there too, so- - Yes, we're trying to save.

- So LaVale, when people come in, you know, what's the experience like at 785?

- Yes, yes, I always try to tell people... Well people when they come in, a lot of people actually tell me it feels like they're at home with their grandma or back in the day when they're a kid and stuff like that.

And that was one thing I always wanted people to come into the kitchen.

You come in, you smell the aroma of all the food.

Just like when you did at grandma's, when you used to go there on the weekends and stuff like that.

Or after church, Grandma used to be cooking food and everything like that too as well.

So I wanted to make sure when you come in there, it was like a home felt feeling when you came in there and you make sure you feel safe, and you know you wanted to come back every single time you get some good food, yes.

- Awesome, well thank you, LaVale.

- Yes, ma'am.

- This has been great.

Thank you for sharing your passion with us and of course your cooking, which is amazing.

We have to hit the road and go visit a local food truck right now that's dishing up some really great comfort food as well with wonderful, delightful food.

(lively music) - So, Tre'Jor, hi, welcome to "Inspire".

- Hi, how you guys doing?

How you guys doing?

- We are doing great.

Food truck, best food truck in Topeka and also the best charcuterie boards.

- [Tre'Jor] Thank you.

- [Leslie] In Topeka.

- [Tre'Jor] Yes, ma'am.

- Exciting, so how long have you been in business now?

- This is our year three, so this would be our third year.

- Wow.

- Really?

- Yep.

- And so how did you get started?

Tell us a little about that.

So I've been cooking for...

I mean my whole life probably since I was about seven years old.

Really in the kitchen helping my grandmothers and my mother.

Went to Washburn Tech while I was at high school...

While I was in high school at Shawnee Heights.

After that I went on to work at the Kansan Grill, which is now the Iron Rail here behind us.

I worked there for a couple years after that I went and did some odd jobs, like home restoration stuff.

And then we got back into the kitchen, I was managing Carlos O'Kelly's until they closed.

And then I went over to Security Benefit.

I was a sous chef there for about two years, from 2018 to 2020 when COVID happened.

And then, yeah, so COVID happened.

I lost my job and we started the food truck.

And we've been rolling ever since, so.

- Exactly, a lot of businesses started during the pandemic.

- Yeah, yeah.

- I know of another one.

- One of our ladies at work loves your protein bowl.

- [Tre'Jor] Yes, ma'am.

- And Mark down here at the bank loves your salad.

What's your menu?

It sounds pretty large.

- So yeah, so we started out with the power bowls.

It was literally a small menu, it was probably just two to three things.

We started out with the power bowls, and flatbreads and salads.

So the flatbreads kind of went away but the power bowls and the salads stayed.

They're huge portions of food.

About 40 ounce bowl of fresh meat, fresh veggies you could get in there.

Grilled shrimp, grilled steak, grilled chicken.

You can get anything from carrots, Brussels sprouts, grilled tomatoes.

- [Betty Lou] Wow.

- Broccoli, black beans anything you can think of.

And we're always adding new things to the bowls.

So anytime... We like to travel a lot, so say we travel outta the country and I find something that I like, I'm gonna try to incorporate that onto the food truck and bring those cultures to Topeka.

- So we're talking about comfort foods as a part of this episode.

How do you make those comfort foods?

- So I think the comfort food aspect comes from, you know, how you're seasoning it, how you're cooking it.

You know, not using too much butter or too much, you know, of those hearty ingredients, but letting the flavor speak for itself.

So as far as my seasonings go, I use a lot of no salt seasonings.

So it's a lot of stuff that you're using, oregano, coriander, parsley, all these things are ground up together with no salt.

So when you're tasting my food, you're gonna taste the chicken, the veggies, you're gonna taste the grains, all that stuff.

- So it's good.

- So real soul food.

Yes, yes, yes.

- Real soul food, okay now.

- So we have... And we don't have all, you know, healthy comfort you can get, we got wings.

During the seasons, we do different things, so you can find different bowls here.

We'll do like a Thanksgiving bowl during that time of the year.

- Nice.

- And so are you also doing catering?

- Yes.

- Besides doing just the (indistinct)?

- Yeah, so I would say the end of the year last year, kinda into this year, our catering has picked up a lot.

Probably, I mean, a hundred percent I would say.

We're doing probably at least one to two caterings a week on top of having the food truck out.

- What makes you love it so much, in addition to the fact that it's family oriented?

- I mean, just feeding people.

Like I was telling Danielle before, whenever I get a new person to try my food, that's just so fulfilling for me.

And we have a non-profit too called the Breaking Bread Program.

So just feeding people has just always been just a goal.

- Oh, talk about that a little bit.

- I'm just a big proponent of, you know, no one should go hungry.

We throw a lot of food away in America so I've worked at grocery stores and seeing how much food just gets tossed and that's always broke my heart.

So anything I could do to help that, you know, if we got people sometimes sleeping down here, we could feed 'em, we just try to help 'em out.

That's it, nothing more, nothing less.

- Wow.

- Yep.

(uplifting music) - Thank you to Chef Tre'Jor Hopkins of the Flavor Wagon.

We loved it, we loved his delicious dishes.

And we'd love also LaVale.

Oh my gosh, you guys.

- Yes.

- This is the most tender, flavorful cornbread.

The chicken, everything is divine.

- [Leslie] Yes.

- And you said you need some special drink with this, right?

- I reed some red Kool-Aid.

(everyone laughs) I do, that's the only thing I'm missing to make this whole meal complete.

'cause this is like a Sunday meal to me.

Like you've been in a long service on Sunday, you know, worked up, 'cause you got your tambourine hands all tired and now you got your plate of food, and then you get to itis afterwards and you just need a nap, you know?

Now, I'll be done for the day.

So I mean, this is very reminiscent of my Sunday meals.

- And how about for you?

Well, you know, I love this and I also like the fact that Tre'Jor had those bowls.

- [Betty Lou] Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

- And you know, you have everything.

Cause that's how I eat at home.

I'll make myself some chicken and I'll make some rice, and maybe some lettuce or something.

I'll just cut it all up, throw it in a bowl.

It's all going the same place.

- Right.

- You know?

- So I just throw everything in a bowl.

So bowls-r-us, bowls are me.

- And with the salads, that was really good.

You know, whatever you could make up.

- Right and you get your fiber.

- Yes.

- Exactly.

And with this from Chef LaVale, look at this like we have everything that you would think of again for the Sunday, the proteins here, everything does make you feel good.

- Yes.

- Don't you think?

- And the fact that he has approached it with a healthy attitude, you know, you would not know that he was using less salt and less sugar in the product.

I mean, you're not trying to kill us like other places.

- Right.

- Is trying to take us out.

I'm like, oh my God, this is good food.

So good food, done well, made from scratch.

I mean it's important to me, especially as we get older.

- Right.

- Right.

- We trying to, you know, take a more... - [Leslie] Stay healthy.

- You know, approach to our bodies.

- And the beautiful thing is it's right here in Topeka.

- Right here and you can get it through DoorDash!

And I love the fact- - I'm loving that.

- Over at 785, DoorDash, you can go in, carry out, you know, catering, but also at the Flavor Wagon.

There's people that follow him around.

- [Danielle] Yes.

- And we know why, because there's such a huge selection and everything is cooked right then and there.

And it was just so flavorful.

- Good.

- And delicious and moist, I love that.

- Very moist, very moist.

So we've been able to educate people in Topeka about some other choices that otherwise they may not have known about.

I mean- - [Betty Lou] Absolutely.

- LaVale's restaurant is vergent, it's only a couple of years old.

- [Betty Lou] Right.

- So get on out there to Gage and check out 7.8.5.

Kitchen.

- Right.

- And I love the fact that we featured African-American chefs.

- Absolutely.

- Oh, yes, yes.

- I want to highlight that too, because we have a lot of our own people putting their own spin on, you know, soul food.

- [Leslie] Right.

- And they're doing it in a way that is just really making me proud that, you know, new generations are bringing our culture to the masses is just beautiful.

- And you can tell from both of 'em, they do it with love.

- [Danielle] Yes, yes.

- [Leslie] yes.

- They do it with love and intention, and- - [Danielle] Yes.

- [Leslie] Yes.

- We're just so glad that you chose to stay with us, and that is all the time we have for today.

We do hope you've been inspired by our conversations.

And as a reminder, you can watch this program again at watch.ktwu.org.

- And if you're so inspired to learn more about our guests, find out what's coming up on future shows, and get access to additional content, be sure to visit our website at www.ktwu.org/inspire.

- Inspiring women, inspiring eats, inspiring you on KTWU, thank you for watching.

(upbeat inspiring music) - [Announcer] "Inspire" is sponsored by the Estate of Ray and Ann Goldsmith.

- [Announcer Two] And the Raymond C. and Marguerite Gibson Foundation and... - [Announcer] Friends of KTWU.

We appreciate your financial support, thank you.

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