PHOTO | BLACK FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL

Restaurateurs Greg and Subrina Collier have announced the inaugural Black Food & Wine Festival will be known as BayHaven Food & Wine Festival. the change coincides with the change to the couple's restaurant group.

BayHaven Restaurant Group is Chef Greg Collier and Subrina Collier’s latest venture.

The couple and business partners announced the Black Food & Wine Festival they launched in April, will now be known as the BayHaven Food & Wine Festival. The inaugural festival is scheduled for Oct. 22-24 at Camp North End. Among chefs who have committed to the festival: Todd Richards, Ashleigh Shanti, Duane Nutter and “Top Chef” alums Tiffany Derry, Chris Scott and Keith Rhodes.

Local talent involved in the festival includes Lindsay Williams of Davidson Wine Co.; chefs Greg Williams and Jamie Barnes, co-owners of What The Fries; Whitney Thomas of The Grand Bohemian and Michael Bowling of Hot Box Next Level Kitchen.

As previously reported, the festival kicks off on Oct. 22 with a Chuckwagon Carnival, which will feature food trucks, a Ferris wheel and family-friendly entertainment, followed by a ticketed multi-course meal, Black Stork Chefs Dinner. The Cotton Club Festival takes center stage on Oct. 23, with chef demonstrations, a tasting experience and artisans, followed by the Harlem Nights Chefs Dinner, which will feature seven chefs.

The Savoy Jazz Brunch concludes the weekend on Oct. 24, featuring multiple chef stations and live music. Expect to see a full website and ticket sales go live in June.

A full website and ticket sales are expected to launch in June. Local, state and federal safety guidelines will be in place at the event.

Both BayHaven as a restaurant group and festival will highlight the Colliers’ Memphis, Tennessee roots and leadership in the Black culinary community. Greg grew up in Memphis’s Whitehaven area near Graceland, while Subrina grew up in Frayser, a North Memphis neighborhood that’s also called The Bay.

“If the pandemic showed us anything, it showed us the blatant lack of diversity in the restaurant industry locally, regionally and nationally,” Subrina said in a statement. “We want to use our platform to highlight Black culinarians and help them become business owners while furthering our long-time mission: to offer a wider range of hospitality establishments through the Black lens.”

The Colliers opened their first restaurant together in 2012 and their latest restaurant, Leah & Louise at Camp North End, in March 2020. Greg has earned two James Beard nominations, Subrina is a 2020 James Beard Foundation Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership fellow, and the couple were named to President Joseph Biden’s Small Business and Entrepreneurs Advisory Council.

They were also part of a group of culinary professionals in Charlotte who launched Soul Food Sessions to champion Black culinary creatives and create a scholarship fund to help them further their culinary education through a pop-up dinner series.

“Our mission is economic empowerment and community development through the hospitality industry,” Greg said.

Their goal for BayHaven Restaurant Group is to establish up to 10 restaurant concepts over the next decade while also partnering with young Black hospitality professionals through full-service hospitality consulting services and mentorship programs.

“We have bootstrapped, grinded and hustled everything that we’ve accomplished thus far,” Subrina said. “We aren’t letting up off the gas, and we want to bring as many people as possible along with us.”

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