Grill Goes Cold After Inspector’s Visit

The word on Edgewood Avenue Wednesday was: The health department was here. Now the grill is cold.

That word came from Ohioma Odihirin.

Usually in the morning he’s busy behind the grill inside a corner of the Black Corner Store, a bodega that over the past half-year has transformed a littered, rundown, drug abuse-plagued corner across the street from Troup School into a thriving, community-oriented food and cultural haven.

Michael and Kenia Massey allowed Odihirin, who owns a catering business called Afrotina, to set up a kitchen counter to serve fresh food each day out of a back corner of the Corner Store. Odihirim specializes in a fusion of southern and Dominican food. (Nigerian-American, he grew up in the Bronx; his wife Eternaty grew up in the Dominican Republican.) In its first weeks of operation, popular dishes have included jerk salmon, rice and beans, and a vegan bowl featuring Spanish rice, greens, pickled onions, salsa, and roasted barbecued cauliflower. (Click here and here to read stories about his business and the Corner Store by the Register’s Pam McLoughlin.)

Then a health department inspector showed up — and found the business violated city licensing rules.

So Wednesday morning, Kenia Massey and Odihirin were planning next steps rather than serving salmon.

They spoke about that during the ​“Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s ​“LoveBabz LoveTalk” program. (You can watch the conversation above.)

“It’s a setback. You can’t move forward without some setbacks. We’ll definitely figure it out. I want to continue feeding people and having people coming together,” Odihirin said.

City Health Director Maritza Bond later told the Independent that the mini-operation violated two sections of the health code: Its license is for Black Corner Store, not a separate business, so now the food operation has to all come under the Masseys’ aegis. And the Black Corner Store has a Class 2 food license, which allows for more limited operation than that run by Afrotine. 

“You can’t ramp out businesses without protecting consumers,” Bond said.

Her office’s goal is to help small businesses ramp up, she said, and her office will work with Massey to put the fusion kitchen on legit footing. That won’t happen overnight, she cautioned, because it will require approvals from multiple city agencies. (Later her office issued this additional statement: ​“They are sharing the same kitchen. Afrotina is not licensed as a food operator and is preparing and distributing food at this location. This activity is not allowed by state statues and local ordinance.”)

Click here to view a chart of four categories on which the health department based verbal warnings to Black Corner Market.

Massey said she planned to get right on the process of filing paperwork Wednesday and ​“whatever I have to do” to help Odihirin resume cooking, this time under the Black Corner Store name.

Odihirin and Massey remained upbeat as they spoke about the change they’ve brought to the corner of Edgewood and Platt.

Later Wednesday a crew from Elm City Vineyard Church was expected.

The church ​“comes every Wednesday to pray inside of our store and to pray around this area,” Massey said. ​“It can be very wicked around the area. I just want to have protection over the area we are in. 

“I’m very spiritual. Because I am the owner of this bodega, I’ve asked that any church come and put some kind of holy ground.”

She spoke about she has earned the trust of Troup students who come by after school. 

“When I opened this store, I had to figure out a way to get the kids on my side, to trust me. When I had the kitchen, every Monday I gave free food to every kid. There are times I walk kids home from school. These kids come in, and they respect me from the door.”