Positive Energy Drives Willowbeez Soulveg

When Carnell Willoughby was a child, his grandmother would shoo anyone out of the kitchen who didn’t have good energy, believing their negativity would bring bad energy to the food she cooked.

If there is truth to the notion that the mood you are in when you cook a dish will affect those who ingest it, then everyone who eats Willoughby’s food will be smiling all day long. He is a warm soul with a wide cheese-eating grin, except he doesn’t eat cheese or any other dairy and you won’t find it on the menu either at his new vegan eatery in the North Market, Willowbeez Soulveg.

Diners won’t find themselves missing anything, however, in Willoughby’s vibrant, colorful, celebratory food. With offerings such as No Fish Fry (lightly breaded banana blossom flash-fried and served with fries and colorful “rebel slaw”); BBQ Jerk Portabella; and the original standby, Curry Cabbage, diners will find an array of bright and healthful options to tempt any palate. In his words, it’s “good fruit ... from strong roots.”

The Curry Cabbage is a sentimental favorite because it’s a nod to his Aunt Ivy’s slow-cooked cabbage, taught to her by his aforementioned grandmother. It’s also the first dish he re-created with his own twist and started slinging at farmers markets almost a decade ago.

The women in Willoughby’s family clearly shaped his early love of food—from his Grandma Brown, to his Aunt Ivy, to his mother, whom he refers to as the “Queen of Beans” because she could take what seemed like nothing and turn it into a wonderful something. His decision to become vegan, however, can be directly traced back to his neighbor, Frank Alan Hinkle, known by the neighborhood affectionately as Papa Doc. Hinkle promoted veganism for its health benefits. “He’d lecture us until we fell asleep at the dinner table,” laughs Willoughby as he fondly remembers long dinners he and his brother sat through with Hinkle growing up.

Top left: Willowbeez versions of mac and cheese, chili and egg rolls: Mac&Plz, Lefteye SoulChili and the Soul Power Roll with ginger-soy dipping sauce; Top right: Customers line up at the North Market; Bottom left: The NOLA Bowl is a vegan gumbo with sweet potatoes and okra; Bottom right: The pressed Nelly Deli Wrap features tofurky and house-made remoulade sauce.

Willoughby met Hinkle shortly after he arrived in Columbus from Atlantic City at the age of 12. After a few restless years living here and never quite feeling like it was home, he moved back to Atlantic City to live with his grandmother. At the height of the crack epidemic, he quickly found himself on the wrong side of the law. “My cousin was a charismatic cat connected to the underworld in Atlantic City,” he says. “I was caught up in a drug raid when I was 18 and ended up going to prison for a short period of time.”

When he got out on parole, his mother wanted him to move back to Columbus. “It took everything I had to not immediately start hustling again,” he said. “I got a couple of legit jobs, but I got brought in by a friend for ‘help,’ which quickly became hustling and I ended up getting locked up again. When they put me in the kitchen to work, it felt like home, like a sanctuary. My soul felt settled there, in that kitchen space.”

Although he didn’t have much know-how on technique when it came to cooking, he had a deep love and memory for being in the kitchen.

“Watching my mom cooking, she was very fluent. I saw the transference of her energy to the food, coupled with my grandmother’s words about what spirit goes into the food. I saw the power in transforming raw stuff to palatable stuff. Food is a huge equalizer: You might not speak the same language, but you share an experience.”

“After I got out of prison, I went from destroying the community to trying to do good. I felt guilty about how much destruction drugs had [caused]. I thought, ‘This karma is going to kill me. How do I repair what I’ve destroyed?’”

Willoughby worked in the food industry for a number of years, but didn’t get into his own cooking business until later. It was his brother Malik who conceptualized Willowbeez and called Willoughby up one morning with the idea. Carnell was immediately hooked. This was a clear pathway to giving back to his community—healing through food.

The business started small with a handmade sign and a Crock-pot of Curried Cabbage at the 400 Market in Franklinton. From there, he expanded the menu and started running catering gigs and pop-ups, most notably out of Hills Market.

In 2015, Carnell also helped found Maroon Arts Group (MAG) with his partner, Sherri Neale. Through funding by the Greater Arts Council of Columbus, they turned an empty lot into a community gathering space in the Bronzeville neighborhood. A set of shipping containers serves as a stage, a gallery and a space for Willowbeez Soulveg, surrounding a green space filled with garden beds. Willowbeez serves food during MAG events, running May to October each year. The concept was to transform their community through art and wholesome food.

“I wanted to take time to learn the infrastructure and build consistency before investing in a more permanent location,” says Willoughby. After seven years of impermanence, he was ready to start his first brick-and-mortar restaurant. He found a location on Long Street that seemed perfect, then the pandemic struck and the owner backed out. But when Pistacia Vera closed its operation in the North Market, another door opened and Willoughby gracefully stepped in.

Willowbeez Soulveg opened on April 27 with rousing support from his community. In his usual cheerful manner, he welcomed them with a plate of love, good for the soul, and his signature bear hug. “There are no moments wasted when I see community members, they are going to get their hug,” declares Willoughby with his 1,000-watt smile.

• Willowbeez Soulveg is open each Tuesday through Saturday from 9am to 6 pm and Sunday from 10am to 5 pm in the North Market. Learn more at willowbeezsoulveg.com.