For the month of February The Heights will be highlighting Black-owned restaurants and businesses throughout Boston.
Nestled in a corner of Nubian Square, Soleil, a local breakfast-lunch spot in Roxbury, fosters a sense of community alongside its homestyle food. After opening in May 2018, the restaurant, under the leadership of chef and owner Cheryl Straughter, has gained a loyal following within the community.
In 1996, Straughter opened her first restaurant called Keith’s Place, serving soul food, which became popular at its Grove Hall location and remained open for 10 years. Following this, Straughter enrolled in Johnson and Wales University’s culinary arts program in Providence, R.I., became a recruiter for the school, and eventually returned to Boston to take care of her mother while simultaneously taking night classes at Simmons University in Fenway, pursuing a master’s in social work.
Opening Soleil has in many ways brought her full circle, and according to Soleil’s website, “Straughter is returning both to the food business and to Nubian Square, a commercial district that figured prominently in her childhood.”
