Black business owners and chefs from around Long Beach are coming together Tuesday, Jan. 16 to serve up a gourmet, multi-course meal at the Long Beach Rescue Mission for the city’s unhoused community.

Chef Qiana Mafnas, co-owner of popular barbecue pop-up Axiom Kitchen; Chef Ronnie Woods, owner of the Northtown Bistro pop-up; Chef Quianna Bradley, owner of A Pinch of Salt Catering and Nika Shoemaker-Machado, owner of Georgia’s Restaurant are teaming up to serve some 250 unhoused people from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the organization’s headquarters in the Washington neighborhood.

The Rescue Mission is still repairing its Lydia House shelter after it was damaged due to a Christmas tree fire, which was later revealed to be arson.

Quianna Bradley from A Pinch of Salt Catering hand over a plate of gourmet food during a chef event at the Long Beach Rescue Mission on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. Photo by Crystal Niebla.

The event will kick off the third annual Black Restaurant Week, which starts Sunday, Jan. 21. Since the inaugural event in 2022, participants have begun the week-long celebration of local Black businesses by serving meals at the Rescue Mission.

“We realize that there are many among us who won’t get the chance to dine out during Long Beach Black Restaurant Week,” Black Restaurant Week organizer Qiana Mafnas said in a statement. “So serving a gourmet meal to our neighbors struggling with homelessness is our way of bringing Black Restaurant Week to them and including everyone in the event.”

This is Mafnas’ first year organizing Black Restaurant Week which will run from Jan. 21 through 28.

Here are the Black-owned restaurants, pop-ups, and small business that are participating this year:

The multi-course meal will be served at the Long Beach Rescue Mission’s shelter at 1335 Pacific Ave. in the Washington Neighborhood on Tuesday, Jan. 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.