Seattle City Wire

American chef and restaurateur Edouardo Jordan has returned to his roots in establishing his newest endeavor in Seattle, JuneBaby restaurant.

Opened in 2017 and located at 2122 NE 65th St, JuneBaby features Southern cuisine, the food of Jordan's Florida childhood, the website of Salare, Jordan’s first restaurant that opened in 2015 and celebrates his culinary training, said.

“Chef Jordan began his culinary journey in St. Petersburg, Florida at the age of nine in his mother’s and grandmother’s kitchens,” Salare’s (which means “to salt”) website said. “He begrudgingly found himself enjoying his position as the family sous chef, elbow to elbow with his family chopping onions, de-veining shrimp, toasting bread for stuffing, and eventually being rewarded with Grandma Meggie’s prized pound cake recipe.”

JuneBaby’s Southern dishes include seafood gumbo, oxtails, smoked carrots, fried okra, plus fried catfish and pimento cheese yellow grits, JuneBaby’s March 25 Facebook post said.

“Southern cuisine has always had and continues to have stereotypical connotations,” Jordan told Seattle City Wire. “Seen through the eyes of most Americans as inferior, unsophisticated, and unhealthy, Southern food reflects hard times and resourcefulness and is nothing short of beautiful. It is a cuisine to be respected and celebrated.”

JuneBaby offers a history of Southern cuisine and its “traditions rooted in the African Diaspora,” Jordan said.

“Through our menus, the encyclopedia on our website, and social media we have a foundation in educating our guests--about the food, the history, the culture,” Jordan said.

JuneBaby’s encyclopedia includes definitions for “JuneBaby,” including one that said that “JuneBaby” is the childhood name given to Jordan’s father.

A March 4 post on JuneBaby’s Facebook page reported on Jordan’s lesson to staff on “how to butcher a hog.”

“Both restaurants, Salare and JuneBaby, believe in using all possible parts of an animal as a way to honor the animal and to uphold traditions,” the post said. “Chef is a seasoned butcher, with both formal and informal training. He apprenticed in Parma, Italy to learn the practice of charcuterie, as well as at the Herb Farm. Before these ventures, his family would often butcher a wide variety of animals, with knowledge that was passed down, generation to generation.”

JuneBaby, which established takeout and retail programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, has made available in grocery stores items such as its pimento cheese, cornbread mix, lemon marmalade and pickles, Jordan said.

“The biggest thing we miss is being able to create the space where conversations and connections happen – over delicious food of course,” Jordan said.