11-year-old Milwaukee chef Raquelle Boyd is already making a name for herself in her neighborhood, pulling crowds of hungry people with her pop-up drive-thru food business. Professionally branded as Chef Kisses, the pre-teen is already on her second pop-up drive-thru after the success of her first, where some customers even waited 2 hours just to try her food.
She has been in the kitchen for some years now. “When I was 5 years old, my mom and my dad gave me a deep fryer,” Raquelle told WVTM. “I wanted to cook and show everybody else how I cook,” she stated.
When Raquelle first shared the idea with her parents, Sarhena and Robert Boyd, their first thought was to encourage her passion, as they usually did. Their support for their daughter’s dream of owning her own restaurant one day goes beyond setting up the drive-through.
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“She’s been talking about Chef Kisses’ Place for a very long time,” Raquelle’s mother Sarhena explained to WSVN. “So, when she came up with this idea, it was like hey why not, we do a lot of stuff as a family.”
They were the business’ first investors, and though the test drive brought a bigger turnout than they imagined, the Boyds kept going. Her parents continue to help her learn what it takes to run a business.
“This is something she has a passion about she don’t just talk about it, she’ll actually put the effort in. 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,” Robert Boyd added, according to TMJ4.
Raquelle made use of her family’s kitchen for the second pop-up drive-through, preparing the meal, which she started working on as early as 6 in the morning with very little help. Her menu included fried chicken, yams, collard greens, mac n cheese, and cornbread, among other delicacies.
“It made me feel happy and that people really enjoy my food,” she expressed.
Her proud parents asserted that it is her savvy business moves that get Raquell ‘Chef Kisses’ one step closer to owning her own restaurant, maybe even a Michelin star.
