Going From Hobby to Bakery and Cafe | Lutunji Abram, Lutunji's Palate #001

here. Hey, how are you? I'm good. So good to see you today. Yes, thank you for having us. Tell us tell us who you are and what brought you here. Well, thank you very much. I am Lutunji with Lutunji's Palate Bakery and Cafe and um this rodeo started literally um summer 2018 and it's a really cool story. Um I've always loved to bake desserts. So, I've always baked desserts and I thought it was a hobby, but um when I grow up, I plan to launch a teen parent charter school for both teen moms and dads. And so, spring 2018, I went to meet with Pastor Jeff Cow Meadow um of Calvary Baptist Church, a social justice church located in South Minneapolis. Yeah. To talk about launching um at least the GED portion in his church. that are known for renting out space. Oh, amazing. And for some reason, I brought a peach cobbler to this meeting and it was he was in there and at the time the assistant pastor Jamie Edwards and his uh community coordinator and he's indulging. He stopped right in the middle of the meeting and he said, "Girl, you are going to sell this cobbler this summer in my farmers market." And I laughed because I shared the same story with him that I shared with you when I grow up. I was except I told him I said I had gone to college. I got in a lot of debt to become a head of school somewhere. I knew it would be non-traditional. Absolutely. Fast forward. Oh boy. Two months later, I started selling the buttery buttery and the vegan peach cobbler. People came from the north, the south, the east, and the west, of course. And they were just wowed. And I said, "Wow, look at Peach Cobber bringing people together." Yeah. And I'm so happy that I had enough sense not to stop. And what I mean by that is I was struggling. I was like, "God, wait a minute. You know, you promised me the school." Yep. And he was like, "That's coming, but this is this is this is where I want you right now." This is the path. This is the path. And um all of a sudden um North Market Grocery Store, you know, our community grocery store and uh North Minneapolis and Camden reaches out and they give me a chance and I'm still selling a North Market grocery store. And then I was blessed with the wonderful opportunity. Um as you know, I'm in quite a few London Barley's grocery stores and I I mean North Market, Lunsen Barley's, Handsome Hog Restaurant in St. Paul, you know, I'm just extremely grateful. And Bobby and Steve's Bobby and Steve sell my peach cobbler like you would not believe. And um it's all mixed with purpose, though. So I said, "Okay, we're selling these cobblers. We're adding to the cobbler menu. We have our, you know, mama taught me well." All of my desserts have a name. So we have Mama Taught me well, my lemon pound cakes. And they all the spin on all of my desserts are the majority are plant-based, meaning we don't uh bake with uh any dairy products, no animal products. And I'm not vegan. Um I've tried the lifestyle. I was very very consistent for about four months. And then bacon broke me down. But I love the lifestyle. I love the lifestyle. And I do, you know, pull back from meat. Yep. And I'll do vegetarian for a minute, then I'm vegan for a minute. Right. Yes. Um, but all of this is happening you guys and we include purpose. Lutunji's Palate is a social enterprise. You know, as it says up here, we're built with purpose and we're fortified with love. And so, as you know, Yes. because you guys did all the beautiful artwork um on the windows. We've been here since May 14th. Wow. And since of 2022, and since that time, we've we're hosting community meetings. We host the community spoken word segments. We've hosted um part one and part two of our children's baking uh class with celebrity chef paying. Um and that partnership is great. And then you you have like Zema Construction who built this beautiful place out for me as one of my sponsors where they sponsor covering the different wonderful events that we bring here uh to Lutunji's Palate Bakery and Cafe. And I'm just having a lot of fun with it. It's like unbelievable. In 2023, I have to put this little selfish plug in. 2023, um, we will probably start hosting, I should say probably, sooner than later, the GED classes for the young moms and dads in the evening. So, I'll keep you posted on that. Please do. We would love to be a part of it. That Yeah, I'm excited about that. So, tell me a little bit. You've got names for all your wonderful items. Tell me about some of the names. Where did they come from? Right. And so my peach cobbler is named Harriet's Escape and um there's so much behind that. Um I have a few an ancestors that I really, you know, they just draw my attention. and one is Harriet Tubman. Absolutely. And um I shared with you how I'm meeting talked about launching the teen parent GD program in a spirit of transparency. Here I am African-American woman master's degree. Yes. Literally amazing. And I went through a season of applying for a gazillion jobs. And I was just seeing job denial after job denial. And with that, um, I'm baking. Yeah, I'm totally baking in between. Welcome. Hi, guys. Come on in. Come on in. Absolutely. Yes. Hi. Welcome. How are you? Good. So, I was in between I mean, like here I am. I'm in between all of these jobs, but in between the jobs, I'm baking. Yes. Like literally, I was baking all these different types of crust, right? And they are to die for. Like I've had them multiple times. Everybody that comes to us, they're like, "Give me some of the cobbler. Try this. You've got to try that." So, oh, love it. But I was baking all with all these different types of crusts. And then that's why I say it was crazy. My highest power just speaks out of me and it was crazy. It's like, I want you to try vegan crust. 2018 or 2017 16 vegan was nowhere in my vocabulary. No. And I tend to sometimes procrastinate a little bit, but right away I went to my laptop and I Googled vegan crust and all these recipes popped up, you guys. Not the sixth, not the fifth, not the fourth, not the third, not the second, but the first time the crust turned out amazing. And I was like, okay, I love to be different. I love to market myself and I love to be different. I said, this is where this is the route we're going to go. I was raised taught to make my crust with lard and Crisco. It's delicious. Y'all know that cuz super flaky, right? Absolutely. And so it's so funny. Now my mom will say it's pretty good. You know, she just kind of brushing it off. But she's really impressed with the lemon pound cake. Oh yes. Cuz I still I named it mama taught me well cuz she taught me how to make those pound cakes, but I just flipped everything vegan. Absolutely. But um I could go on and on with how amazing this journey and this story is you guys. Um how it's it's just unfolded and yeah I'm sharing the good with you. So you know when anything is super amazing you have tons of challenges. Tell us about some of those challenges. Um a perfect example is um you know hiring people with the right intentions. like people are on the outside, they're looking in and they're like, "Wow, it seems that she really has it going on." Right. And um motives and intentions. Um I have really uh been challenged in that area of hiring people with great intentions. But as you've met my awesome niece, so beautiful Jess, she's so talented and just amazing. amazing and uh she's a director at Simpson Housing, but she want she works part-time with her aunt and I mean she has brought some players to the table. Absolutely. And so prayer works because I was praying about that and she's been a real blessing. And I'd have to say another challenge is making sure that you are your back office that you are really working uh with a reputable team. Yeah. With your accounting. Yes. And um you know and with your bookkeeping. Mhm. Um, you know, as I shared, I opened in May. Yep. And my focus was the marketing, and you think you're you're working with this great uh bookkeeping company, accounting firm, and you just, you know, you just find out that you you really have to just team up with a team that really has your vision, your heart, and your mission. Yes. Um, in their heart. And so, I've been blessed with that change. I'm glad we called it early on. Yes. And so I am really proud to announce that uh I work with an amazing uh law firm Amber bookkeeper. Very nice. So I'm really grateful for that. Um yeah. What's behind all your drive? I love your your just everything about you. Your your drive, your go. What's your why? You know, my why is it's really simple. I keep my mic keeps falling out. My why is community and people. I was blessed and fortunate, you guys. I was raised I was born in St. Paul and I was raised in North Minneapolis. Yes. And I was so blessed to um grow up in a community with elders and that, you know, that really cared about our well-being. Yeah. And so it was like community. I grew up in marching the marching bands over north. Oh yeah. Um, and just, you know, like under the great leadership of like people like Spike Moss and the Ara Hulks and Sylvia Loveless Payne and those guys through the Minneapolis Urban League, just seeing their leadership and then the type of mother I have with her heart very nurturing. I was like, well, yeah, I want to I want to love too, right? And I really experienced that. And then, you know, you get older and you look back and you're like, something missing, right? I want to be a part of the the answer, the the solution. to the social ills that we face today. The community, I'm not afraid to face those things. Um, yep. Sometimes you have to really really uh have guard your heart. Oh, absolutely. In the word because you can get so caught up in it. But that's my why, you know. And then I have a beautiful son. Oh, he's an adult now, but still your child is your child until the end. And so that's my why. Nice. And I had just that support for me. Yes. You know, especially as a teen mom of one. Absolutely. My son. And so that's my why. That is my why. Being out in the community. I know you love you started off at the farmers market and your drive with everything. How much has the community brought to you being here at the new location? Um, a lot. Good. And what I mean by that is that their support is um unending. I shared with you we've been here since May. Yep. 14th. And already through community connection, you have your different organizations, Enipin County, the uh HCMC. Yeah. Um the Catholic Charities through relationship. These guys have come out AON who we are doing the coat drive for right now. We'll find out more about that in a little bit. They I mean just the community support. Yeah. You know, it's been really beautiful. And then I am blessed to have an advisory committee. Yes. That is so amazing. Um and they provide strong wraparound support too. And so you know it's the beginning stages. The foot traffic is picking up but that blessing is with the community supporting we have that wholesale. So the commercial kitchen I can go in that commercial kitchen when I want turn my music on and just zone out. Right. Yes. And so those are the blessings that I look at and I look to every day. Awesome. It is amazing. So you're talking about this coat drive. Tell us a little bit about it. So uh Lutunji's Palate partnered with AON. AON provides affordable housing to families uh within the Elliott community here in South Minneapolis. And uh they are just you know a really cool organization that like I said even before I moved in. Yes. They had they received word that I was coming and again when you ask about community word of mouth they learned who I was and they learned about my heart. Absolutely. They said we want to help introduce you to community. Yes. So I mean we So Christmas or December of last year all of the AON families received Lutunji's Palate desserts. Right. Amazing. Yes. And um like I said, I just watched the wraparound support that they provide. We've even um employed a couple of AON Wow. Of course. residents, right? And so I said, "Wow, this is a perfect timing. Let's put together what are some needs and let coats." I said, "Let's put together a coat drive." Absolutely. And so December 3rd through the 23rd, we are collecting new and gently used coats, outerw wear, hats, gloves. And when you donate, your name will be entered into a drawing on and we'll know who that person is on the 23rd. They will receive a Lutunji's Palate bundle of love. And let me tell you, it is more than just dessert. Yum. It is more than just dessert that's going to be in that bundle of love. And so we're excited about that. Yeah. Working with Patty Smith, she's awesome from So you have a lot of goals and ambitions. Did those derive from your parents or where did all that extra little oomph come from? Yeah, the drive definitely I have to credit my parents for for the drive and my grandmothers on both my maternal and paternal side. Um just you know the entrepreneurship has always been in our family. Absolutely. You know, just having that will to do, you know, confident and believing in yourself. Yes. Believing that, you know, I can pour out and pour in just as well as going to clock in for someone else every day from 9:00 to 5. That's just how I feel. Don't get me wrong. Now, you have to humble yourself and that entrepreneurship is not for everyone. But that's my route. Absolutely. And I mean, as long as I can remember, and I didn't even realize that that's what it was about, right? Is being an entrepreneur. Like, I am so I'm talking about like back to my teen days. Yep. Like I didn't realize, you know, like my witty ideas and creativity and things that I was doing was really in the realm of entrepreneurship. Absolutely. Um, I started taking different classes in the community over north, taking differentship is another thing, too. It really is. But I'm so serious. Back in the day, we um we had a lot of different programs in North Minneapolis and Beatatric and Associates. Like, I was taking entrepreneur classes in my early 20s. Yep. Right. Absolutely. And I was thinking that it was just uh social skills. Yep. Right. Life skills. Life skills. life skills. It was literally preparing me to become an entrepreneur, you know. So, yeah, I'm excited. Good. Good. Well, you have so much going on and we absolutely love the new location. We love the location and everybody that we talk to always talks about the Peach Cobbler, but there's just so much be more behind this story. I mean, you where you're going, everything about it. I can't wait to see the future and everything that it holds. I'm so proud of you. Thank you so much. Thank you.