‘We boost each other.’ Meet the sibling chefs changing Charlotte’s vegan food scene
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Why Charlotte’s Black food stories are America’s stories. Learn which Black food has shaped the area, meet a pair of sibling chefs that are shaping Southern cuisine and explore some of Charlotte’s Classic Eats.
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Charlotte siblings Akil Courtney and Joya Courtney have been vegan for most of their lives.
Three decades ago when they were children in Wisconsin, their father was advised to change his diet to avoid developing diabetes. Their mother switched the whole family over to a vegan lifestyle, including Akil, Joya and their 13 other siblings.
Their father’s pre-diabetic diagnosis disappeared.
Akil and Joya (who was born with the name Adjoa), were so impressed by their father’s health improvement that they kept up with the lifestyle.
Now, as the vegan movement is exploding with Charlotte — especially among Black chefs — the siblings are sharing the food of their childhood.
[Related: 10 Black vegan chefs who are redefining Charlotte’s Southern cuisine]
Chef Joya: The little sister
Chef Joya goes by many titles in Charlotte.
The personal chef’s clients and colleagues call her a sorceress, a wizard, and a unicorn in the city’s food scene — and it all started with some mac and cheese and collard greens.
She moved here from Wisconsin a decade ago, where she grew up shucking peas and picking through beans in her grandmother’s kitchen.
A few years ago, she was invited to participate in a food festival, and she showed up with her vegan mac and cheese and greens.
The amount of people that lined up in the following hours seemed endless.
“It had to be like 100 people in line for me, and it stayed like that consistently until I sold out,” she said. “And that became the theme whenever I had a pop-up somewhere.”
It took her so long to realize her calling, she said, because she feared a career in the food industry would take the joy out of it. But Joya found the perfect compromise in being a personal chef.
The former makeup artist is now known for “transitioning people over to the green side,” and she was recently highlighted by Ally Financial and GLAAD as a local Black LGBTQ+ small business owner and “changemaker” impacting her community.
“I didn’t realize so many people did not know really good vegan food,” she said.
Black veganism thrives in Charlotte
While Joya has kicked off her culinary career, the vegan food scene has grown exponentially in Charlotte, especially among Black chefs.
“I think that people learned that being vegan isn’t all about … eating berries and leaves. You can actually take your food that you were raised on and just ‘veganize’ it,” she said. “It’s a great thing because everybody got their own little thing that they do, so it’s been amazing giving people more options.”
The vegan movement isn’t just growing in Charlotte. Black veganism has been shaped into a social and political movement, and an increasing number of Black Americans are focusing on holistic wellness, which includes a plant-based lifestyle.
Eight percent of Black Americans identified as vegan or vegetarian, compared with 3% of the general population, according to Pew Research from 2016 and reported by Today.com.
Almost a third of people of color in America said they have cut down on meat, Today.com also wrote, citing a 2019 Gallup Poll. The same research shows that Black people are the fastest growing demographic of vegan eaters.
And soul food, traditionally made with meat, fat and sugar, can lead to obesity-related illnesses including stroke, heart disease or diabetes.
“It’s full of pork and full of sodium and full of all that, but at the end of the day, that’s what a lot of people grew up on. That’s what people love,” Joya said.
Soul food — but healthy
Soul food doesn’t have to be unhealthy, and Joya and Akil’s cooking is proof of that. “Being able to do it accurately and do it vegan is a whole ‘nother level.”
Nostalgia is one of the biggest components of cooking for Joya — for her, food is about memories and history.
“So when you think about soul food, it’s food we created out of things we got and made it amazing,” she said. “It wasn’t about the money — it was about the love. ... So all that poured into the food is very important.”
She gets to cook for clients, friends and family, all while experimenting with food on her YouTube channel. During the pandemic, she was unable to host private dinners, so that’s when her social media presence took off.
That’s sparked a pretty special email from a celebrity — and a subsequent partnership.
“Fantasia reached out because one of her background singers were watching my page,” she said. Now, Joya is a personal chef for Fantasia, the Charlotte-based R&B singer who rose to fame after winning American Idol.
It’s an impressive feat for a chef who only started cooking professionally a few years ago.
Joya’s career trajectory has been swift — but she’s adamant that she’s far from done.
After all, she’s got a brother to “compete” with.
Chef Akil: The big brother
After experiencing Charlotte weather for the first time in 1999 when Akil moved here for college, he decided to never go back home.
During his 23-year stay, he’s seen a growing demand for vegan food. So in 2019, he and his wife started Ve-Go food truck. “We’ve been rolling ever since,” he said.
“The vegan boom in Charlotte is crazy, and it continues to grow every day,” he said. “It’s just a lot of people are changing their lifestyle and how they’re eating.”
Where Joya took a break from the kitchen until she had her first child, Akil has been working in the food industry since the very beginning.
“A lot of people hate their job,” Akil said. “I absolutely love it. I love being able to get up, go to my kitchen, create something and then be able to serve it to the public.”
Family dinners
Though they didn’t grow up cooking together, they definitely do now.
“We bounce ideas off each other … and we have a family dinner every few weeks,” he said. “We do things differently just to keep it pushing forward.”
But the one thing they have in common is that they pride themselves on making complete, quality vegan meals.
“Our food is different. Anybody could make a vegan burger, and that’s not to take credit away. But there’s a lot of vegan junk food out here,” he said. “That’s not us.”
There are several misconceptions about vegan food that Akil hates.
“People think it’s nasty, that we only eat vegetables, that it’s all salads. And I won’t tell you that everybody’s vegan food is good,” he said. “But if you find the right place and you get the right thing, it can change you.
“The biggest thing is getting somebody to try it once.”
The menu at Ve-Go changes daily, but some of their staples are Bang Bang Shrimp, tacos, and seitan BBQ ribs.
“Every community does have different things that were passed down in terms of food. If we go back to slavery days … the origin of soul food is using parts of food that were thrown away. You got what you got and had to make it flavorful,” he said. “It’s what a lot of us grew up on, especially in the South.
“But you can still get those same flavors, get full and eat healthier.”
Siblings who share: ‘We’re making the best vegan food in this city’
When Akil talks about Joya, he grins with pride. He’s got high aspirations for himself — and for her.
“That’s my baby sister growing up,” he said. “We got to keep creating.”
And Joya feels the same about him.
“I think it’s dope, to share this with him,” she said. “It’s not really a sibling rivalry — we boost each other, and we keep each other on our toes because we know that’s going to bring out some excellent things.
“And as a result, we’re making the best vegan food in this city.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
