Today we’d like to introduce you to Lemuel McCall III.
Hi Lemuel, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I went to culinary school in Memphis and have been in the culinary field for over 15 years. I have always found cooking to be relaxing and creative. I am the oldest of two children and was always fascinated by my mother’s cooking. She used to say to us jokingly, “I want to make sure you know how to cook in case your spouses do not.” I found myself later on in life coming home from work cooking to relax from a long day of work. It was always comforting. Around 2010, a new culinary school opened in our area (Le Cole Culinaire), and I asked my mom to take a tour with me. She was excited to go, and after visiting the school and getting my parents’ blessing, I started my new career. At first, I thought I was too old to start this dream, but after speaking to various chef instructors, I was reassured this was the place to start my dream. I learned a lot of techniques and culinary history and even got to take a trip to Umbria, Italy, to learn under a Michelin Star for a week! After graduating from culinary school, I took on various cooking jobs till I was offered to work for American Queen Steamboat Company/ Voyages.
I worked for the company for 6 years, met highly skilled chefs from different states and countries, and met my beautiful wife there (Janice McCall). After working on the boat for a few years, I envisioned going into business and having my food truck (restaurant on wheels). My wife and I decided to start a family and leave the cruising industry to work on land. After working for the University of Memphis for a year, COVID-19 affected my position, so I decided to start my own company. I’ve always been fond of a particular nickname, so I called LemdaddyZ Kitchen LLC. I eventually returned to work at the school but decided to make a career move and work retail for a couple of years. That particular company went through a restructuring, and I saw this as a sign to take on the business full-time. And here we are today.
Let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
It could have been a smoother road. With the company being fairly new, it has been challenging to find funding. My wife and I are working on this business together. We have a toddler, and my mother lives with us. Since we have dependents, we take turns in our base of operations- our kitchen. We also started late last year, so there was a learning process on where to have pop-ups to maximize our brand fully. We constantly evolve social media to reach potential customers and showcase our products. We have done several pop-ups since July of 2023, and we love to hear people say that our desserts remind them of home or bring back a childhood memory with their grandma. We love meeting so many talented and hard-working local vendors. We crossed paths with a talented photographer once at one of the pop-up events we participated in, and when he took photos of us at our booth, it was like a sign telling us — Hey! This is happening!
Photo credits to the very talented photographer, Mr. Steven Woods, @Quintessentialphoto901, for the photos of us at our booth that are shared in this article. We always say there’s a reason for everything and why we cross paths with certain people. The smiles and hugs after someone has a taste of our desserts make us happy and remind us that our desserts bring happiness and we should keep doing what we’re doing 🙂
Thanks for sharing that. You could tell us more about your business.
We are a family-owned and operated business specializing in homemade baked goods that you can’t get enough of! I am African American, and my wife is Filipino; together, we make and offer specific baked goods and desserts that provide our customers with a fusion of our cultures. I was born in the South, so we try to provide “a little taste of home” in our products, and as my wife always says, “Everything is baked with love.” Janice has always been inspired by her big sister’s creativity and passion in baking, and now that we have a little 3 yr old, he has been our little taste tester, little chef and biggest inspiration in our lives.
Pricing:
- Gooey Butter Cakes (2 Slices)- $8.00
- Gooey Butter Cookies (4 Count)-$6.00
- Ube Crinkle/Ube Coconut Cookies (3 Count)-$7.00
- Chocolate Chip & Chunk Cookies/ Double Choco Crinkle Cookies (3 Count)-$6.00
- Assorted Gift Boxes- $15.00
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Instagram.com/LemdaddyZ_Kitchen
- Facebook: Facebook.com/LemdaddyZKitchenLLC
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lemdaddyz-kitchen-memphis
Image Credits
Mr. Steven Woods, @Quintessentialphoto901.
