Theresa Headen may be a chef, but she’s also an artist and scientist. The owner of Elegant Cuizines, Headen transforms seemingly basic ingredients into delicious, one-of-a-kind masterpieces. It’s a talent she shares with the community in numerous ways, including with her recent vegan pop-up.
Elegant Cuizines’ vegan pop-up currently serves rice bowls, the perfect comfort food during these chilly days. The meals, also gluten and soy-free, come in several flavors like spiced yellow rice and jerk vegan chick’n (“meat” cleverly crafted out of cauliflower or oyster mushrooms). There’s also slow-cooked jollof rice packed with seasoned vegetables and a house-made pepper sauce.
“We [originally] did sandwiches. We had a vegan burger with jackfruit and mushrooms,” says Headen. “[I thought] let’s try vegan rice bowls.”
If the rice bowls aren’t enough to send you into a dreamy state, Headen’s desserts will. There’s fresh banana pudding concocted with vegan heavy cream and Biscoff and luxurious red velvet cake which Headen incorporates beet powder into to obtain that iconic red hue.
“Our goal at Elegant Cuizines is to cook as clean as possible,” says Headen. “We try not to use anything like food colorings. We use a lot of veggies to create colors.”
The vegan pop-up selections are pre-order and carry-out only and can be purchased through Elegant Cuizines’ site. Pre-orders are open Thursday to Saturday and can be picked up at 2309 Hungary Road.
But Chef Headen’s vegan pop-up isn’t the only way she’s making her mark locally. Her nonprofit Pray. Eat. Talk. is as well.
What originated over a decade ago as a women’s bible conference grew into a bigger mission as Headen began serving local single moms food from her restaurant and catering business. This year, though, she felt led to host dinners where these moms and their kids could mingle and relax while enjoying a home-cooked meal.
“Unfortunately, it’s a challenging time,” says Headen. “It’s challenging not just for single moms, but I imagine single moms have a little more unique situation.”
Headen hosted a Thanksgiving meal in November and an ugly sweater Christmas gathering in December. Menu items included vegan butternut squash bisque, glazed carrots and a salad tossed with roasted Brussels sprouts, cranberries and pomegranate arils and finished off with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.
Founded in 2016, Elegant Cuizines started as a catering business but has greatly evolved since. In 2023, Headen opened a restaurant at 415 W. Grace Street. While that recently closed, she is focused on many other culinary adventures, like meal preparation services and a private chef experience where Headen prepares and serves a four to five-course meal in one’s home — basically an affordable fine dining opportunity in the comfort of one’s living space.
Headen, a self-taught chef, originally studied biology but eventually decided to pivot her professional dreams to the culinary arts, a passion held since childhood. “One thing I love about food is it’s like science to me, an experiment,” she says.
Headen, who was born in Liberia, says her grandmother is one of her biggest inspirations; she has fond memories of her grandmother cooking fufu and jollof rice. “She had a little pot she’d let me cook in next to her with whatever scraps were left over from her cooking,” says Headen.
While Headen is vegan, her business caters to all dietary preferences. But Headen says her inventive plant-based dishes are changing the minds even of the vegan skeptical. Her dinner rolls especially have been a hit with some in disbelief that the bread is actually vegan.
“I want people to understand the gifts God has placed in them and to use those gifts,” says Headen. “A lot of people are super gifted but don’t know it or people don’t tell them. I think about being a chef — I didn’t go to school. My mission [for Elegant Cuizines] is for people to understand they can dream as big as God allows you to dream.”
To learn more about Elegant Cuizines or contact them, visit the website here.
