Feeding Change: How Chef Dae Is Using Her Food Stall To Transform A Baltimore Community 

When Chef Dae opened Dream St. Cuisine in an underserved Baltimore neighborhood near Coppin State University, she wasn’t just launching a food stall, she was planting seeds of change.

With globally-inspired dishes and a passion rooted in family and giving back, Chef Dae is dominating the restaurant game while also creating space for nourishment and purpose. What started as a passion for cooking alongside her aunts, has evolved into a community centered mission blending accessibility, education, and wellness.

Her Agenda: You chose to plant Dream Street Cuisine in a neighborhood that’s often overlooked for fresh and healthy food. What did you see in that area that made it the right place to start this movement?

Chef Dae: I grew up in the neighborhood. I grew up probably about 10 blocks down the street off of Warwick Avenue. So I was very familiar with the neighborhood. Middle school, high school and elementary school was all throughout that area.

Her Agenda: You describe your food as sacred. So how do you translate that belief into your day to day approach with Dream Street? Especially when it comes to building the community trust through what you serve?

Chef Dae: When I was working in restaurants, it was one key thing that I learned from working in each one of them. [It was] to be unique, to create things that you can’t get from nowhere else. When I was asked to be a part of the meal, I did some community research to see what they did and they didn’t have. All the restaurants that I worked at was in Downtown Baltimore. I told myself that I was going to bring Downtown Uptown. That [way] people were able to get the same quality food from the communities that they lived in.

When I made that decision, I said, ok, well, if you’re going to do it, you’re going to do it all the way. So everything that’s on my menu, I made unique. I made sure that it stood out. I made sure the flavor was there, and still try to make sure to stay in the price range where people could still afford it.

Her Agenda: Ok you talked about making sure that your food is still unique and affordable for the community. But a lot of your dishes are globally inspired as well. So how do you balance the culinary creativity while still being health conscious when it comes to the community?

Chef Dae: I’m still working on some things that will be incorporated in the menu so that people can have [more] options. Now another thing that I pride myself on that when those people do come, I accommodate them, even if it isn’t on my menu. I go out of my way to prepare a dish that they can have just so that they can know that it can be received by us.

So if we have a person who don’t eat flour, the flour tortillas that we have for our tacos, we created a taco salad. Whereas though it’s a larger portion, you can get all of those same toppings on the salad that you [would] have in your taco. I did the experiment for one person and [that] same day, it took off like a rocket. And we had people coming up and asking us when we just looking like, OK, we just kept making it. So now it’s a part of it.

Her Agenda: Beyond food, you’re planning for youth cooking workshops, wellness events. So tell me a little bit more about that and the long term impact you’re hoping these programs will create.

Chef Dae: Well, [with] the Little Dreamers, I always envision[ed] myself giving back. I decided, ok, well, this is [where] you’re going to plant your seed at, especially in African-American neighborhoods. We need to give back more than just doing it seasonally. So I’m working on different projects, whether it’s the back to school, whether it’s donating to schools, whether it’s donating to families.

Now, as far as the cooking program, my retirement plan is to have a culinary school built. And that that’s something that I’m releasing in this interview. But that’s a part of my retirement plan where I’m going to have a school built. And I want [it] to start at the age of 16 and up because we’re losing the foundation of cooking right now. Everyone wants everything to be instant and everything. Everyone wants everything to be at their fingertips. But where we come from, we love food that’s seasoned. [But] in order for it to be seasoned. Sometimes you have to cook it with passion and love, you know.

So I feel like starting with the age range around 16 and helping them to develop their ability to become cooks or even chefs, or even if you are a stay at home mom or, a kid who has multiple siblings, you’re able to fix them more than just noodles or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You should be able to fix an entire lasagna when you’re 16. I know I could. So I’m trying to bring that back to the forefront in our communities because we eat out a lot.

Her Agenda: I’ve never been to Baltimore, but I know you guys have your own rhythm, culture, history and just brilliance throughout the city. How has being a chef in the city shaped the way you lead and serve through food?

Chef Dae: I had some bad experiences with other chefs. So I took what I felt they should have been delivering and I instilled it into myself as far as leadership and not just being a boss and telling people what to do. I still work in my kitchen. A lot of people look at it like you should have your staff to do it. Only time my staff is working alone is when I’m doing things like this (interviews). But in order to be a leader, you have to implement ways where people feel comfortable with following you.

I didn’t have too many chefs that was willing to do that. Once they showed you how to do something, they wanted you to take it and do it their way. And with my team, I allow them to show me what their abilities are. And I try to strengthen them. Being a chef is a title to me. I grew up with a very large family. So I had a lot of little cousins underneath me. When it came to my little cousin[s], even still to this day, being a leader is way more important than just being a chef.

Her Agenda: I saw on your website this quote that you live by. “A seed can get as big as an elephant, but you can take it beyond the universe.” How has that mindset guided you through any possible challenges you’ve had launching Dream Street? And how do you pass that belief on to others, not just your employees, but the community and what you envision for your business in the future?

Chef Dae: Wisdom. Finding more ways to give the information that I have away. Everything that I learn, I teach it to others. I’m very confident in the path that I’ve taken because I’ve made a lot of mistakes. But even with those mistakes, I’ve made some really valuable ones. Whereas, though, the things that I’ve been through can help other people so that they don’t have to go through all the trials and tribulations that I’ve been through.

I feel like I have a really strong testimony that I don’t give myself enough credit for all the things I’ve been through with establishing my business. I don’t come from money. So I literally started this in my house selling food.

Then I had saved my money up to put a deposit down on my food truck. And that’s what got the attention of the owners where I am now. And that’s how they became interested in me.

I believe information is very important not to hold on to it because someone can learn from what you know or do in your career. It’s a lot of people out here cooking, but it’s what you do for your community that really determines the type of person you are. I believe I’m doing the best that I can with that.