Chef Tai Davis explores the cuisines of the African diaspora with his Lineage dinner series

Tickets are on sale for the Sept. 29 dinner at The Smith in Midtown St. Louis

On the fourth Sunday of every month, chef Tai Davis hosts the latest installment of his Lineage dinner series, which aims to explore the cuisines of the African diaspora. The August dinner is already sold out, but tickets are on sale now for September’s Lineage event, which will take place at The Smith at 3408 Locust St. in Midtown St. Louis on Sunday, Sept. 29. An October event will also take place at The Smith. 

 

 

The series launched in May with a dinner at Work & Leisure, but Davis and his partner, Kellen Myers, have since taken the series monthly. Each dinner is a multi-course affair, with entrees supplemented by an array of small plates that give guests the opportunity to sample a wide range of dishes and flavors. The August menu includes roasted bone marrow, Vidalia onion churro, a take on a Caesar, seafood chowder and more. Each month sees Davis and Myers muse on a theme: This month’s prompt is “I planted a seed within my spirit and watched it grow,” while the starting point for September’s dinner is “Wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight.”

Davis said each Lineage dinner invites guests to “embark on a culinary journey through the diverse flavors of the African diaspora, from soul food and Gullah cuisine to the flavors of the Caribbean and various African culinary traditions. “We take all of those influences and whatnot and elevate it,” Davis said.

One of Davis’ goals with Lineage is to dismantle misconceptions and get people thinking about what soul food is, what it is not, and what it can be. “I wanted to get away from the misconception that soul food is only fried chicken, mac and cheese and yams and stuff,” Davis said. “It encompasses a lot more than that.”

With an eye on the bigger picture, Davis said he and Myers are using the Lineage series as proof-of-concept for a future brick-and-mortar restaurant. “We’re eventually going to be a restaurant,” Davis said. “This is our opportunity to really market ourselves and showcase what Lineage can do before we open up our restaurant.” Davis said his vision isn’t so much for a full-service restaurant, but rather a space that can be partly a restaurant and partly an outlet for community-focused projects. “Maybe have a daytime cooking school for inner-city schoolkids, maybe we partner with an urban farm,” he said.

Follow Lineage on Instagram to keep up with the latest announcements on upcoming dinners.