Delicious Cuisine, Deals, Specials And Good-Paying Jobs At Center Of Black Restaurant Week

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- If you're looking for somewhere new to eat, there are a bunch of Black-owned businesses cooking up new concoctions for Black Restaurant Week.

From fresh smoothies and juices to salads and waffles, The Nourish Spot has it all on the menu as a healthy food haven in Jamaica, Queens.

"We just want people to be healthier and live longer, vital lives," founder and CEO Dawn Kelly told CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis on Wednesday.

Kelly is in business with her son and daughter in the same community she raised them.

"Not only are we providing fresh fruits and vegetables, we're also providing good, well-paying jobs for youth in the community, and so, you support us and we support the youth in our community," Kelly said.

Like Sebastian Roseway, who has been working at the establishment for three and now, at 20 years old, has his own catering business Bash Eats.

"I make like basically healthy alternatives with my Southern dishes," Roseway said.

Both are taking part in Black Restaurant Week, which kicked off Friday and features deals and specials.

Derek Robinson is co-founder of the campaign, which started in Texas in 2016 and expanded to our area last year.

"The goal is to celebrate and highlight the flavors of African-American, African cuisine. The roots of that is to be able to create economic stability for these culinary businesses, of course bringing a lot of foot traffic for these restaurants," Robinson said.

The organization says in 2020 it supported 670 Black-owned culinary businesses across the country and generated an average 34% sales increase.

Its current "New York Tri-State" campaign is its largest ever.

"You're giving more exposure to businesses that can really benefit the community," Roseway said.

"I know for a fact that we got some new customers that were looking to support Black-owned businesses," Kelly added.

The Nourish Spot is among 175 in the Tri-State Area taking part in Black Restaurant Week, so if you're hungry there are plenty of places you can go.

Black Restaurant Week runs in our area through July 4. For a list of participating restaurants, please click here.