Cooking from scratch can take a long time, and so can cooking up a restaurant.
Phillippia "Fefe" Rome's new soul-food restaurant in central Jefferson City is a decade in the making.
"I've been trying to open a restaurant for the last 10 years," Rome said. "After a while, I just started buying tables and different equipment because I knew eventually I was going to be able to have a restaurant."
That restaurant is The Blue Skillet Soul Food Restaurant at 226 E. Dunklin St., and after 10 years of planning, it took only days to get up and running.
"My brother passed by the building here on East Dunklin, and the person was out there putting a "For Rent' sign on it as he passed," Rome said. "He called me and said, "Do you still want to open a restaurant?' I said, "Yes, I do.' He said, "Are you sure you want to open a restaurant?' I said, "Absolutely.' ...
"He said, "You have one week to leave Georgia and come to Missouri, and I will help you open a restaurant."'
Her brother is Kevin Rome, president of Lincoln University, and at his prompting, she filled a U-Haul with her clothes and restaurant supplies and moved to Jefferson City from Columbus, Georgia, within a week.
"I serve soul food, or "country cooking,'" Rome said. Her top menu options include fried chicken, fried fish, pork chops and candied ham, with side dishes like macaroni and cheese, collard greens and fried okra. "All of the food is fresh. We peel potatoes every day. I boil my noodles. We don't cut any corners."
The restaurant's location is the former home of Pasta Fresca, which closed in early 2014.
In the whirlwind of uprooting herself from Georgia and starting a restaurant from scratch, Rome said she has relied on help from her family. While her brother helped her secure the location, her sister-in-law has helped her organize the finances. Rome's mother traveled with her from Columbus to help with the cooking for the first couple of weeks - "even my little niece and nephew come in and take orders for me, and they're 10 years old," she said.
Now she has assembled a small staff to wait tables while she does the cooking.
"People here have really, really helped me out," Rome said. "I have to admit, I wasn't familiar with Missouri because I'd only been here when my brother had his inauguration, but there's really nice, friendly people here."
The Blue Skillet Soul Food Restaurant is open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays - "or until the food runs out," Rome said.
Know of any business happenings around Jefferson City? Let us know at [email protected].