Though her grandmother and father were chefs, Devika Patridge took several winding paths before she finally decided that would be her profession, too.
“I grew up in my grandmother’s and father’s restaurants here in Atlanta,” Patridge said in a recent phone call. “My father also worked at Morris Brown in the hospitality lab, which was like a restaurant. I basically lived at Morris Brown as a young child, and I fell in love with food. But, my father didn’t want his kids to go the chef route, because it’s not an easy life, with a lot of work and a lot of hours.”
Patridge said she first thought she might become a doctor or a lawyer, but “after bouncing around a bit,” she ended up working at Morehouse as the catering director. “I’d have 10-15 events a day,” she said. “That’s how I kind of fell in love with food, again.”
However, after giving birth to two children, and gaining 60 pounds, Patridge said she reached a turning point about seven years ago, and decided she would use her cooking skills to make healthier food for herself, as well as others.
After leaving Morehouse, she moved into a commercial kitchen, where her company, Eat Urban Fresh, creates meal kits, and does meal prep, corporate catering and events.
In addition, Patridge is working with Hungry at Home, a no-contact catering and delivery platform that provides access to healthy, chef-made meals.
“We have a lot of different products,” she said. “We make our own organic seasonings, and our own dressings that we sell. But, even with all that, it took me a long time before I would call myself a chef. But, I guess I am doing this for real now.”
With the pandemic, Patridge said her business changed, but she has remained very busy.
“A lot of companies stopped having events, but our meal prep and meal kit business took off,” she said. “That’s where I started, and I know the ins and outs like nobody’s business, so that’s pretty much been our core.”
As a Black woman, Patridge said she’s had to work harder to be recognized as a chef — especially one dedicated to making healthy food.
“As Black women chefs, we get compartmentalized into a group, where we make fried chicken and soul food,” she said. “And, that is totally what I don’t cook. I cook healthy food. I want people to be healthy, and learn that healthy food can be delicious.”
This is one of Devika Patridges’s favorite ways to eat veggies. “They are amazing,” she said, “especially for those who want that grilled kabob flavor without the meat.”
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