Raquelle Boyd, aka “Chef Kisses,” is only 11 years old, and she’s whipping up success in the kitchen.
She had customers lined up outside her parents’ home on Saturday, Sept. 9, as she cooked up a delicious menu during her second pop-up drive-thru. The young chef cranked up the heat in the kitchen at 6 a.m. to start her weekend menu, including fried chicken, collard greens, mac and cheese, cornbread, and more.
According to TMJ4 News, Boyd was inspired to cook her dishes after the success of her first pop-up drive-thru gathered an unexpected turnout of a few dozen customers who waited in line to try her food.
“It made me feel happy…that people really enjoy my food,” Boyd said.
Chef Kisses’ mother, Sarhena Boyd, supports her daughter’s passion for cooking, an art she said she fell in love with as early as five years old, working in her play kitchen.
“This is something she has a passion about; she don’t just talk about it, she’ll actually put the effort in,” Raquelle’s father, Robert Boyd, said. “We sponsored the first one, and she took literally— the second one everything that came from her menu to her balloons, her flyers, she paid for all of it herself.”
The tween chef is working hard, with the help of her family, to open her own restaurant eventually.
“She’s been talking about Chef Kisses’ Place for a very long time,” Sarhena said. Raquelle’s parents gave her a kickstart and stepped in as investors to get her started with capital and move her closer to owning her own restaurant.
The young cook believes that the most important thing is being able to cook and showing people how she does it. The Boyds continue to support their daughter by teaching her about running a business and lending a helping hand during the pop-up drive-thrus.
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