Kings bring soul food to library
In the side entrance of the Boynton Beach library is a small cafe where you might find the best soul food in the immediate area.
Husband and wife Anthony and Antonier King are the owners and chefs of A Bite 2 Eat Soul Food Grill and Catering. They’re also known as Tony and Toni. Tony handles the grill — chicken, ribs, all the proteins. Toni handles everything else — breakfast, all the rubs and seasonings, and anything else you see on the menu.
“She kills breakfast,” said Tony. “I don’t think too many people can touch her breakfast menu.”
Some examples: baconstuffed crab patties and veggie patties.
“People haven’t tasted those flavors before,” Tony said.
So let’s get back to this cafe in a library thing. And soul food?
The library cafe is also known as the Sailfish Cafe. It reopened in February and is operated by the Community Caring Center of Greater Boynton Beach’s Secret Garden Cafe. The Kings are part of the CCC’s business incubator program.
Tony and Toni and their soul food have been in the cafe for about six weeks. On average, they see about 100 customers a day.
“It’s the start of a dream come true,” Tony said.
Why only the start? The couple wants to have a bigger restaurant in the future.
The Kings, married for about 12 years, have eight kids and nine grandchildren. They’ve both loved cooking all their lives and grew up in families of cooks. All the recipes are their own, except for the Southern fried chicken — that’s Tony’s great-grandmother’s.
Tony defines soul food as “food cooked from the heart” and “food your greatgrandma cooked when you were little.”
He says everything is made fresh, which keeps customers coming back.
“People want good food and they prefer it fresh. When you do that thing alone, you create relationship with customers,” he said.
Having their first restaurant isn’t overwhelming for the couple, Toni says, because they’re used to cooking a lot at once. Toni’s parents were pastors so she often helped cook big meals for the church members on weekends.
“I like seeing people’s reactions when they eat the food,” she said.
And for Tony, cooking is therapeutic for him. He’s a Marine who was in the Persian Gulf War and said he suffers from PTSD. He also works at the VA Medical Center in housekeeping.
“Cooking is my therapy. I’m at peace with the world when I’m cooking,” he said.