Sponsored By
Tune into Menu Feed, a culinary-centered podcast hosted by Senior Editor Patricia Cobe. Menu Feed is produced in collaboration with FSD’s sister publication, Restaurant Business.

How Adenah Bayoh is positioning Cornbread Farm to Soul for future expansion

The IHOP franchisee and Cornbread co-founder is on a mission to change the perception of soul food across the country.

Patricia Cobe, Senior Editor

February 16, 2023

Adenah Bayoh, an IHOP franchisee and passionate entrepreneur, co-founded fast casual Cornbread Farm to Soul to put a spotlight on soul food favorites.

Along with the restaurant’s signature cornbread, its menu features chef-partner Elzadie Smith’s scratch-made fried chicken, catfish, yams, baked mac and cheese, collard greens and peach cobbler.

Three locations are currently open in the New York-New Jersey area, and now, the partners are on a mission to expand Cornbread through franchising. But as a Black woman and first-generation immigrant, Bayoh is finding it challenging to attract investors and get financing.

Adenah Bayoh
Adenah Bayoh

Listen as she tells her story of grit, community commitment, and how she and Smith are embracing the fast-casual model to change the perception of soul food across the country.

Subscribe to Menu Feed on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify.

About the Author

Patricia Cobe

Senior Editor

Pat plans and executes the menu sections of Restaurant Business and FoodService Director, covering food and beverage trends, Menu R&D, profiles of chefs and restaurateurs and Technomic research. She also contributes to the digital content of both RB and FSD and is editor of two weekly e-newsletters, Recipe Report and On the Menu. Pat’s weekly podcast, MenuFeed, covers a wide range of menu topics through interviews with chefs and operators.

Pat came to Winsight from Hearst, where she was an executive editor. She is the co-author of the Mompreneurs series of books as well as two cookbooks. She graduated from Cornell University and earned a Masters in Journalism from Boston University. She is active in several professional organizations, including Les Dames d’Escoffier and the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC), and serves as a judge for the James Beard Media Awards.

Subscribe to FoodService Director Newsletters
Get the foodservice industry news and insights you need for success, right in your inbox.