Owner reopens Peggy's Heavenly Soul Food in latest chapter of her soul-food odyssey
About 25 years ago, Peggy Brown was a technology factory worker and an accomplished cook. But a chance encounter with a supermarket cashier changed her life.
At the time, Brown worked for Ingram Micro Factory, where fellow employees praised her cooking skills. "Everybody knew that I loved to cook," she said. "They would ask me at work to make them food and I would."
On that fateful day more than two decades ago Brown was making a German Chocolate Cake for someone and she forget to buy butter, prompting the supermarket trip.
The store cashier, noticing Brown looked frustrated, asked her what was wrong. "I told him that all these people wanted me to make this, or make that and it was just so much," she said.
What the cashier said next changed Brown's thinking. "He said, 'Don't you think that maybe that's the gift that God gave to you, cooking?' I thought about that the whole drive back to home."
She later quit her job and opened her first restaurant, Heavenly Hash, in Millington, 24 years ago.
Heavenly Hash, a soul food restaurant, closed after three years because of building maintenance issues.
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After her first restaurant closed, Brown got a waitress and cook job at Waffle House on Summer Avenue in Memphis When her mother took ill, she left Waffle House to stay home and care for her mother.
She says she found her passion for cooking at home.
That passion has fueled Brown, now 73, through the years. Her latest journey has her moving Peggy's Heavenly Home Cooking back to its S. Cleveland Street location after a six-month foray where she moved to a E.H. Crump Blvd. location that she says was a magnet for crime.
The new-old spot has some of the familiar design features, including sky-blue walls, angel figurines and statues and a new white ceiling, all part of the "heavenly" experience that Brown seeks to impart. Most of the angels are donated by customers, she says.
But the real attraction remains Peggy's food.
"It makes me feel like I'm back at my grandma's house waiting for a good dinner," said Eric Dorse, who has been coming to Peggy's for four years.
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Another customer, Lisa Speed, an administrator at Solutions, said she has tried everything on Peggy's menu. She says the restaurant's new style and atmosphere make her comfortable.
"When I first enter into the restaurant, I notice those angels all around. Even though she makes food for her customers, I feel like she made that meal just for me," she said.
All of the food cooked at Peggy's is freshly picked. Brown said her cakes are made by scratch bakers in Memphis.
The restaurant also provides accommodations for those who are vegetarian and would like a southern meal.
"It's super important to have access to fresh food," said Rachel Mackie, Binghampton Development Corporation's manager of human resources.
Mackie brought seven students to the restaurant on a recent Friday as part of their summer program called "Good Eats" that exposes children to heathy food around Memphis and teaches them about a healthy lifestyle.
Peggy's was the perfect stop for them. "It is also an honor after Juneteenth to celebrate black-owned businesses and my co-worker told us about the food and we had to go try it," Mackie said.
Brown summed up her everyday approach: "I try my best to please my customers."
Peggy's Heavenly Soul Food is open Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. and Sunday noon to 6 p.m. The restaurant is located at 326 S. Cleveland St.
Porsha Hernandez is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at porsha.hernandez@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Peggy's Heavenly Soul Food reopens in S. Cleveland St. location
