Fillet of Soul, a Healthy Soul Food Pop-up

Next month Boston will get a new pop-up serving healthy renditions of soul food classics from 3 Scoops creator Wheeler del Torro. The Boston Phoenix talks with del Torro about his new venture, Fillet of Soul, which will serve dishes like faux chicken and waffles and four-"cheese" mac & cheese made with soy. According to the Phoenix, the chef has opened pop-ups in Paris and Tokyo and is timing the opening of Fillet of Soul to coincide with Black History Month. At the same time, del Torro will be hosting a series of events called Dining in the Dark at the all-vegan 3 Scoops in Brighton. (The parlor is also home to Kitchn Table, a test kitchen/cooking and demo space.) The chef's efforts are part of a larger movement to reinvent soul food, or rather to return it to healthier, pre-processed, pre-food desert standards.

This trend is best embodied by the activist-chef Bryant Terry, author of the cookbook Vegan Soul Kitchen, who once hosted a collard green cook-off at Haley House Bakery and Cafe in Dudley Square, which is also involved in the healthy soul food movement, as is Roxbury caterer Zakiya Alake. "Yesterday, I got invited to a culinary thing where they were having things like ox cheek and crocodile meat," says del Torro. "Man, there are so many cool veggies out there, and things we can do with technology where you can make something really great."

· Wheeler del Torro talks healthy soul food, plus recipes that won't kill you [BP]
· @bryantterry [Twitter]
· Rediscovering and reinventing food for the soul [BG]

[Photo: Wheeler del Torro/The Vegan Scoop]