Heavy, hearty and handmade — all the qualities you wouldn’t expect from vegan food, but Auntie D is here to change that idea. She’s fiery, with a tuned ear, a slick tongue, and her hands on the pulse of the next big thing. Vegan soul food.

Come have a seat at the table.

The Roots

Auntie, Big D, Big Sis, Miss D, Dod, Dodah.

You get the point. Dodah is a woman of many names, but you might not know her real one. Janice.
Janice Cheaver.

Just like her many names, Janice also has a lengthy list of destinations she calls home.
Her first home: Miami.

She was born in the mid to late 1960s, and spent most of her adolescent life there.

“Most of my family...if not all of my family is from Miami, Florida. If not there, then they’re spread out all across that state, but most of us, we don’t leave [the city] so we’re very close. Family is number one and being close is good...if my mother was in trouble [with money], it was like, okay, so-and-so down the road maybe able to scrap something together. So we stick together, especially during that time, you had to, you still have to,” Cheaver said.

Sticking together was a big part of her life.

Much like today, being Black in 1960s America came with a constant target on your back. And despite her family’s close ties to Miami, Janice’s parents wanted out.

So, they got out.
Her second home: Israel

After spending the first 15 years of her life in Miami, Janice was off to a new land, speaking a new language, and learning a new culture.

In the 1960s and throughout the 1970s, a growing number of African Americans were seeking liberation through means of religion. They found that through Hebrew scriptures and other teachings. This sub-filum within the Hebrew faith would become known as the African Hebrew Israelites. The goal of their community was to return to Israel, which they deemed to be the holy land.

Her parents were hooked.

“My parents got really wrapped up in it. They found this community of Israelites [and] that became my life for 35 years, it was basically just this community and it changed my whole worldview. I learned a lot. I spoke the language, which I still speak, the clothes I wore, just everything and...looking back now, it was an experience I’d say that I’m grateful for,” Cheaver said.

This community of Israelites didn’t just change her worldview, they changed her diet too.

“Everyone in this community was vegan because that was just what we believed, clean food, ethical food right from the earth as it should be and I started this, or I was young enough that it really stuck with me,” Cheaver said.

And it clearly did.

In 2009 she returned to the States. She briefly lived in Miami to visit extended family, before moving to her next home.

Her third home: Mt. Rainier, Maryland

“Mt. Rainier it’s like this funky, down-to-earth type of community, and they have this huge vegan, vegetarian, plant-focused community that really drew my attention to this area. It’s definitely not Israeli, you know what I mean, but as far as community goes it does remind me of those places,” Cheaver said.

Once here, Janice worked at Sweet & Natural, a vegan café well known in the Mt. Rainer area and about 15 minutes away from College Park, Maryland. While she loved her job, she dreamed of something bigger. Something of her own.

“If you’re really into food, cooking, baking, it’s always going to be your dream to do your own thing and have your own place or start your own business. I just didn’t know how to get the ball rolling.”

Luckily, someone did.

The Crew

A Black-spiritual Hebrew Israeli woman, a Panamanian man, and a white dude from New Jersey walk into a vegan café and what happens?

That’s right, greatness.
Gary Feld (the white dude), co-founder of Dodah’s Kitchen tells the story:

“So, Janice and Edwin actually worked at the same café. Janice wanted to make and sell her own Afro-vegan soul food, Edwin had this dream of opening his own vegan café. I’m really involved with veganism and actually began helping Janice sell her vegan cheeses, because I understand the whole business and marketing element,” Feld said.

In late 2017, slowly, but surely, things started taking shape.
A dash of Israeli cuisine, a hint of Afro-Caribbean spices, and a heaping of Southern proportions.

Mix it all together and you get Dodah’s Kitchen.
“Dodah means auntie in Hebrew, and everyone calls me Dodah already, and I like the way it

sounds, DoowwDuh,” Cheaver said.

“We each three had these great skills and potential, and Janice is this amazing cook with this amazing story and we all combined our talents to make this thing happen,” Feld said.

From selling vegan cheeses, to mac n’ cheese, some pumpkin pie, and carrot cakes. They had a good thing going and they couldn’t stop now.

The Hustle

Great things don’t come easy, and neither did the making of Dodah’s Kitchen.

“It wasn’t like we had a secure plan. It was like if we don’t do well, we won’t have the money to finish our buildouts, so we really had to hustle, we had to move quickly and grow quickly,” said Edwin Lottie (the Panamanian man).

So, they did.

Their first step: Glut.

Glut isn’t like your local Whole Foods. It's gritty, it’s the type of store you know everybody by name. From the cashier to the farmer that picked your produce. It fits in perfectly with the vibe of Mt. Rainier, which is what Janice loved.

“Glut is one of the first stores, or what they call co-op’s, that honest to God believed in us and what we wanted to do. They saw our vision and so that made them want to sell my food in their store,” Cheaver said.

Soon after, Dodah’s Afro-soul cuisine was popping up in co-op’s all over the Maryland, then Pennsylvania, Delaware and even New York.

There next step: The Store

While opening a store in Mt. Rainier is their dream, zoning issues prevented them from making that dream a reality. They found a place on 1210 N Charles St, Baltimore, which is walking distance from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. They decided that this would become their flagship location.

“Right now, we have a store up in running in Baltimore, but at some point, yes, we are looking to be in the Mt. Rainier area because that’s where we got our start, that’s where the vegan community is booming” Cheaver said.

Despite COVID-19, they decided to open their doors on Sept.11 of this year.

“Was it a risk, yes, but you can’t get comfortable in this type of entrepreneurial type of business where you're relying on yourself or a few people you can’t get comfortable with, if you’re comfortable then you’re doing something wrong,” Cheaver said.

As of right now, they haven’t had any issues with their stores opening. Masked customers are welcome to come dine in or pick up orders.

But if you’d rather stay at home, they also deliver. At the time of this phone interview, Gary and Janice were in route for a delivery.

“We just hired two drivers, but it’s always nice to meet the people who buy your food and stay in touch with the community,” Cheaver said.

The Future

So what’s next?

Gary’s confident in their future success. “Veganism has been steadily on the rise for the past few years especially in this area and D.C. and what we’re doing isn’t typical and it’s not what people think of when you hear the word vegan, so we’re working on getting into more stores is the big goal, maybe even across the country,” he said.

This is what Janice had to say:

“Our mission statement is to make veganism accessible and delicious. Delicious – hello that’s obvious, accessible you know we make affordable vegan food, period. We’re not like any of these frilly fufu vegan restaurant’s or cafés where they only wanna serve you a piece of lettuce, no if you come here you’re going to be eating like you’re at your grandma’s house or your auntie’s house, I’m your auntie and you will be served fully.”