You need an abundance of talent, skill, and determination to make it in the “City of Angels,” and Chef Yealang Smith, the owner of a restaurant called Soul located on Hollywood Boulevard, is as ambitious as they come. Born in North Carolina and raised in Los Angeles, food was apart of Chef Yealang’s life from an early age, but it wasn’t until she began cooking for friends while attending Howard University that she truly began to consider a career in food.
RELATED: How To Spend A Day In Black-Owned Los Angeles, California
Chef Yealang’s journey from being a caterer to the stars to the 10 years it took to make Soul a reality is a testament to her determination as a chef and an entrepreneur, and Travel Noire caught up with her to get a peek inside her soul food restaurant, which is one of the only black-owned businesses located on the most famous street in the world.