Caribbean flavors for Thanksgiving at Elevation

Welcome back. 912 is your time if you're looking for something good to eat this weekend. You might want to try Elevation Kitchen and Cocktails. They're rolling out a new fall menu, seasonal menu here. Back with the owner Shane and co-owner chef Neville Walker. First of all, welcome to Good Day Atlanta. Bright and early this morning. Walk us through the restaurant, the inspiration, Jamaican American style here. Sure. The inspiration is American and Caribbean infusion, so pretty much. A mix of both worlds, the Caribbean, as well as America, so wherever you like, we definitely have something for you. All righty, and while we're talking, Chef is over there cooking up. What are you making while we talk? Rasta pasta. Rasta pasta. What is in it? What are some of the ingredients? Coconut milk, Jamaican jerk spices, penne pasta. Everything coordinates, and we get a beautiful dish. I mean, you guys at home, you can't smell it, but it smells so good here. You can smell it in the newsroom. You guys have a new seasonal fall menu that's coming up. Walk us through some of the dishes that you guys are adding. Happily so. It's almost already Thanksgiving, can you believe it? Almost Christmas already. So, turkey, we have right here rice and peas, and we have our jerk turkey. Jerk turkey. Jerk turkey. Now, if you like it spicy, of course, we have it spicy. Like in mild, we also have it mild. So we have that. We also have our jerk turkey wings. That's this right here. That's correct. And same thing, jerk turkey wings right over there. And then, for those who love the fried food, we have fried turkey. That's right. We have that with the candied yams, with the macaroni and cheese. You know, this is one of those things where as we're going to Thanksgiving, we're seeing so many people putting a twist on the traditional. Absolutely. This is a good idea, especially as we go into the Thanksgiving. Talk about what does food mean to you? How did you get into the business? Well, look, when people eat, they're happy. Yeah. Like... All the time. All the time. So when you have the type of talent that Chef Walker have where he can make such great food and I get to talk about it like I made it, oh man, it's great. And that's how happy the customers are too. So, you know, and most people will say, which I agree, food, most people eat with their eyes. Yeah. Rub it. Make sure it looks good, tastes good, smells good, and it's beautiful on the palate. So it means a lot to our customers. All right, Chef, walk us through the cooking techniques. People at home, if they want to make this, what are some tips that they can do, especially as they get ready for Thanksgiving? Just what are some things that they should keep in mind? Use the right flavors, the right store-bought sauces, jerk seasoning, you know, prepare your meat clean and... Make it tasty. Make it tasty. Make it tasty. What does food mean to you, and what does it mean when you're cooking up in the kitchen and you see people enjoying it? I already know this food is good. I like the creation part of it. And then I create it, you eat it, you look happy, you enjoy the meal, presentation. It's a win-win situation. You know, a lot of people are getting out. I find that a lot of people aren't really cooking for Thanksgiving, too. Are you guys open around Thanksgiving? Can people come and maybe order ahead to have this on their Thanksgiving? I'm glad you mentioned that. So, number one, we are open on Thanksgiving. And we're open because we have come to recognize that a lot of folks, like you said, prefer not to cook, but they want somewhere to go have great Thanksgiving food. And they can socialize and good music entertainment. So we will be open Thanksgiving. And also, those who want it catered, meaning they want to order it, we can also do that for them at Elevation. So we are open Thanksgiving. Y'all come on through. Come on through. Okay, so you're looking, he just added the pasta into it now. I know you're using oxtails. What are some other things that people can substitute? Someone could probably add in shrimp to this or chicken. Shrimp, salmon, jerk chicken, jerk turkey now. The oxtail is a favorite one. But any meat, any protein you choose, or if you go vegan, we make vegan rasta pasta. Vegan rasta pasta. That's like a vegan chef, absolutely. Walk us through, I know being a business owner can be tough, especially in this economic time. What does this business mean to you and how important is it for people to support small businesses? Appreciate that question. Well, it's important because keep in mind, you're responsible for a lot of people, right? In terms of their livelihood, so they can get paid. Regardless of what's going on, you want to ensure that we always give quality, not just to our customers, but also to our staff. What does it mean to be a small business and have the impact? When you do it, do it right. Do it with excellence. That's the kind of timeline Elevation is on. We're not there, but we're going to get there. And when we get there, we're going to still feel like we're not there, because we're always going to go higher and higher, and that's what we call it. Elevation. Elevation. To go higher and higher. All right, so before we go, I want to taste something. We have about a minute left here. What can I dig into? What can I nibble on? Okay, you like spice or you like mild? I like mild because if I eat spicy, I'm going to start sweating. Okay, so nothing is very spicy. Okay. I make sure of that. I'm going to get just a little piece of this mac and cheese right through here. What is your favorite here? I know the rice and peas, that's a classic as always. What are some of your favorites? Well, my favorite would be the fried turkey because it's just so different and then the seasoning, the flavor in it. That's gravy right there. Yeah. I'm just going to dip a little bit of this in here, and that tastes so good. The mac and cheese doesn't need anything. Once you start, you're not going to stop. I'm not going to stop. Here, I'm going to bring this plate into the newsroom. That's it? Mm-hmm. That's good right here. That is it. I don't have a favorite. Yeah. It just depends on the day. It just depends on the day. Yes. And the creativity here. Yes. All right, well, we appreciate you guys coming. This plate, I'm already going to mark it and bring it close to mine. That's all you. I just placed up that Rasta Pasta there. Elevation Kitchen and Cocktails is located on 1180 Sigmund Road. That's Northeast and Conyers. For a look at their new fall menu, just head to elevationconyers.com. We also have all of this on our website, box5atlanta.com. Just look under. The good day section. Everything looks so good here. That Rastapasta, if we can get one last shot here. It looks so good. Steaming right off the plate. All right, it is 9-18, so it'll come on good day.