NORFOLK, Va. — A new restaurant in Park Place is blending food, family and community in what city leaders call the “Soul of Norfolk.”
Blaque C, located on 35th Street, is the vision of owner Karen Pitts. She said the restaurant is rooted in both love and loss.
“A couple of years ago, my husband passed from glioblastoma brain cancer, and I wanted to keep his legacy,” Pitts told News 3's Jay Greene. “My daughter asked me, ‘Mom, you’re trying to make everybody else happy. What do you want to do?’ And I said, ‘I want to open a restaurant.’ So that’s how Blaque-C came along.”
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The name comes from her motorcycle riding nickname — short for “Blaque Cherry” — and the restaurant features American-Caribbean cuisine. The menu includes rasta pasta, loaded baked potatoes, steak and shrimp egg rolls, fried fish sandwiches and even a tribute to her late husband: spaghetti paired with spare ribs or fish.
Opening the business wasn’t easy, Pitts admitted, but she says it became possible once the pieces came together.
“Once I got the building, once I got the name, once I started getting the menu together and just walking through the building itself, I was like, I can do this. This is my dream,” she said.
For Pitts, it’s about more than food.
“I’m really excited to be a part of Park Place and the rebuilding of Park Place,” she said. “I’m a community person, so I’m going to be here to feed the community and also do a little bit of community service within the neighborhood”.
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Norfolk City Councilman Carlos Clanton, who grew up in Park Place, said Blaque C adds to the area’s cultural heartbeat.
“When you look at the ‘Soul of Norfolk,’ you have this nod to African American culture, you have great food, and you’ve got businesses like Blaque C that reflect that,” Clanton said.
Clanton believes businesses like Pitts’ restaurant can help turn Park Place into a destination corridor as new development, including the city’s cruise terminal and casino, brings more visitors.
“I think when we start popping up these unique corridors, it gives those passengers somewhere to go,” Clanton said. “It’s a great opportunity for the city to really highlight some of the rich cultural uniqueness that we have here in the area”.
Pitts said her dream is just beginning.
“As I tell people, I’m scared and excited at the same time, but I know it’s going to work out,” she said.
