A local family looking to jumpstart their food business is getting a ladleful of help from a veteran Atlanta restaurant owner.
Jenny Levison, the founder of Souper Jenny, which has five locations throughout metro Atlanta, opened her first cafe nearly 25 years ago. The inspiration for her concept were the soups she tasted during nearly two years of travelling to more than 22 countries.
When she returned to Atlanta after her global foray, she worked as a theatre actress and cooked on the side.
“I met someone who was a caterer who sort of gave me an opportunity,” Levison said. “I didn’t have any experience running a business.”
The caterer gave Levison a space to open a tiny takeout spot in Buckhead.
In November, Levison found herself in a position to give other aspiring culinarians their lucky break. Sheila Tiller-Tooks, 52, one half of the Cornbread Sisters duo, cold-called Levison, searching for a place to sell their cornbread, a recipe developed by Tiller-Tooks’ sister and business partner Toshia Tiller.
“They were looking for an outlet to sell their cornbread. So, I just said, ‘Why don’t you bring some over and we’ll test it out?,’” Levison said. “They came with two baskets of piping hot, delicious cornbread,” she said.
Credit: Cornbread Sisters
Credit: Cornbread Sisters
Levison purchased a few pans to sell at the Souper Jenny location in Buckhead. That proved to be successful enough that she ordered some for the Westside location and opened her kitchen to the sisters to bake the bread on-site.
The sisters, the two youngest of five girls, grew up in the East Lake Meadows neighborhood of metro Atlanta. Neither of their parents had siblings, so they grew up without aunts and uncles, which made the family feel small. For Tiller, making cornbread was a way to create tradition and a family legacy.
“I had a dream that my children and my grandchildren and our family, would only be able to get certain things at my table,” Tiller said. “I wanted them to say, ‘I want to go to Auntie Toshia’s. I miss her cornbread,’” she said.
Tiller, 54, worked three years to develop her buttermilk cornbread recipe, perfecting it in 2005. She shared it with her sister about 10 years ago, but swore her to secrecy.
Credit: Cornbread Sisters
Credit: Cornbread Sisters
The sisters started making the cornbread for others, including taking it to work potlucks, where coworkers would say it reminded them of their grandmother’s.
Now, there are four cornbread flavors in their repertoire: classic buttermilk; bacon; jalapeno and cheese; and cheddar. All flavors except cheddar are sold by the slice at Souper Jenny Buckhead and Westside locations. In addition, customers can order half- and full-pans of any flavor by contacting the Cornbread Sisters via phone or Instagram.
Each pan comes with a positive message, tied with a yellow ribbon. The tag on the first pan they made read: “Preparation meets opportunity.” It’s a message the two sisters took to heart.
Credit: Cornbread Sisters
Credit: Cornbread Sisters
“It’s just been a month, but it feels like way longer than it’s been because we’ve been grinding,” Tiller-Tooks said. “Just talking about the journey so far, even though it’s been short, it’s been rich,” she said.
The sisters plan to add other flavors to their cornbread offerings and hope to one day open their own brick-and-mortar shop. In the meantime, Levison is helping them create a business plan.
While both sisters have fun cooking the cornbread, they bring different strengths to the partnership. Tiller-Tooks manages the business, while Tiller is the cook.
Tiller-Tooks recalled forgetting to turn the timer on the oven, but was scared to tell her sister that she wasn’t following the recipe. Because the timer wasn’t set, she had to open the oven multiple times, when the recipe calls for the oven to stay closed.
“I have a process. It does not require you to open the oven at any given moment. You do it one time,” Tiller said. “So when we’re in the kitchen cooking, she’s opened the oven at least twice,” she said with a laugh.
The sisters said that making cornbread together has brought the family closer, with other family members lending a hand when they can.
“We came from parents that were married for 55 years before they passed away, and they got us out of there with positive attitudes, with mindsets to know that we could accomplish anything,” Tiller said.
Souper Jenny. Multiple locations, souperjennyatl.com.
Cornbread Sisters. Order half- and full-pans of cornbread by calling 770-778-5547 or contact on Instagram @cornbreadsisters. Prices start at $39.99.
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