April 22, 2025, 9:00 a.m. ET
Originally published May 16, 2025
Tranae Cearnal of The Richmond Seen shares a chilled red with food scholar and architectural designer James Ford III to talk soul food, fine dining, and how Black traditions shape more than just the plate. From Smithfield roots to studying abroad, Ford connects flavor, form, and legacy in a conversation as rich as the food that inspired it.
James Ford III is the true definition of a foodie. A native of Smithfield, his expansive palate and deep food knowledge were on full display during our conversation over a beautifully chilled red on a windy Friday night at Penny’s Wine Shop. We discussed farm-to-table pioneer Chef Edna Lewis, whether Richmond is ready to be considered a Michelin Star dining city, if our community truly understands fine dining, and whether Black cuisine is often undervalued.
“I will never say basic. I grew up where my uncle would go to the garden and get the corn. My Aunt Judy would go and ask this person and that person for some fish. We just had connects all around town. Back then, everybody did everything. We were all community. My grandma made rolls every day. She had her own restaurant, and it happened to be on the Black side of town. Well, it didn’t just happen to be—it was on the Black side of town because that was the only place she could be. But it was very traditional Southern food. Everything was local because there was no pre-packaged stuff coming from Cisco or whatever. It was her doing this, and that’s what I grew up on. So, I always tell people I’ve been doing fine dining all my life, bro! I know where these ingredients come from. We respect those ingredients. Black people are the creators of farm-to-table. Edna Lewis? She really emphasized agriculture. I’ve had Edna Lewis cookbooks in my repertoire for at least 15 years. She taught us that how we cherish and treat ingredients is important. That’s fine dining right there.”
Ford spoke fondly of his upbringing. “Smithfield is so special. We call it ‘the plant.’ If you’re from Smithfield, you know it as ‘the plant.’” And by plant? His paternal grandmother was a sitter for some of the Gwaltney children. That’s right—Gwaltney Bacon. “My grandma always had the hookup on a good ham. She had the ham down in the basement. We grew up with whole hams in the basement.”
As our discussion continued about Black Southern cuisine and familial food traditions (his family gets a bushel of oysters every year for Thanksgiving), we wondered when James started to see the shift in his palate.
“I studied abroad in Spain. I knew I wasn’t gonna be able to get what I wanted all the time, so we started experimenting. Then, I went to study abroad in France. We started in Paris and traveled the whole country studying architecture. That’s when it started to click for me—‘Oh, your béchamel is my roux. Your bone marrow is the same thing as my grandad sucking the bone.’”
Ford’s expanding palate inspired his studies even more, leading him to center his thesis on how African American architecture is shaped in the same way as soul food recipes.
“My actual thesis in architecture school was trying to create a recipe for African American architecture the same way soul food was created—an amalgamation of things. It has very strong French backings and principles. How could we start to create a recipe for African American architecture? It’s so hard to even follow the recipes of soul food sometimes. They get muddy, and there’s a real essence of the person who is cooking it. I don’t know how I passed architecture school, honestly. I basically said in my presentation, ‘I’m Black. I make Black architecture at the end of the day. That’s my recipe. It is now mine because I did that. I don’t know what else to tell you. It is inherently Black architecture now.’”
That same blend of history, technique, and personal interpretation that defines soul food—and, as Ford argues, Black architecture—is what continues to shape food culture today. But in an era where trendy restaurants and viral food crazes dominate, what happens to the traditions? Are they evolving, or are they being overshadowed?
Ford has thoughts.
When we talked about food trends—specifically the seafood boil bag restaurant craze—he smiled, “It’s not for me. I don’t need my food coming in a Shein bag,” making light of a TikTok trend regarding seafood bags. He continued, “No. I love seafood. I grew up on seafood. If there’s one in front of me, we gone buss down. If you ask me to make one? Oh, it’s definitely on. I’ll have you straight! But yeah, I’m not going to a restaurant and asking for a bag of food.”
And what about chicken and waffles? He laughed, “My dad said he wanted to open a chicken and waffles restaurant. And I’m like, ‘Dad! Chicken and waffles has laid down and died! Let’s wait a minute—another 10 years until it comes back again.’”
Ford documents flavor like a storyteller through Just Something I Ate, each dish a memory,
each bite a nod to tradition. It’s not just food, it’s reverence on a plate.
(Photos Courtesy of Ford’s IG with L’Opossum, Lillie Pearl & Stellas Grocery).
When we considered some of Richmond’s fine dining restaurants like Grisette and Beaucoup (where he laughed, “Say something bad about Beaucoup, and we gone throw hands!”), we asked James why we see very few Black people in these spaces.
“I think it’s a lack of exposure. We don’t know it unless we’ve experienced it somewhere. But we also equate something being expensive with fine dining, and that’s not necessarily true either. But it’s hard because, to some, boil bags are fine dining. There will always be food trends. This boil bag trend is going to disappear just as fast as it came in.”
Which is why we need food educators like James—people who help keep us connected to the classic flavors and techniques that allowed chefs like Edna Lewis to create recipes, like her iconic She-Crab soup, that have endured through time and hardship.
For more exclusive content from James Ford III of Just Something I Ate, including his signature dish, the best late-night spot, and his absolute favorite restaurants in Richmond, subscribe to The Richmond Seen on our website.
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The Richmond Seen is an independent newspaper publication, and digital news outlet, highlighting the Richmond scene – and unseen. Covering Hip Hop, Eats and Everything in between. Our goal is to continue to preserve & protect the Culture in which we are part of, and the Culture in which we see.
