Deeming a restaurant’s fare “healthy soul food” just seems laughable. That’s like baking discs of flax seed and ruffage and calling them cookies. Or listening to Rick Astley’s music when you’re not being rickrolled. Yet somehow, Jamawn Woods — winner of NBC’s America’s Next Great Restaurant — makes it work. For the most part, anyway. 
Jamawn’s concept, Soul Daddy, bills itself as featuring “new home cooking,” offering lighter takes on traditional straight-from-the-kitchen dishes. Fried chicken smothered in maple syrup over a plate-sized Belgian waffle is replaced by an herb-roasted, baked bird and a cornbread waffle about the size of your palm. Diced sweet potatoes in a cilantro vinaigrette stand in for crispy French fries, and cream-of-mushroom-soup-coated green bean casserole is swapped for a crunchy, cold green bean salad.
It’s more like classic Sunday picnic food that doesn’t leave you feeling like you swallowed a gallon o’ gloppy grease. Delicious, yes, but with only two warm side options (cheese grits and braised kale), it doesn’t provide the craving-quenching, one-bite-and-I’m-home flavor typically associated with soul food. Where’s the healthy mac and cheese? Or some red beans and rice? Maybe I’m just being too picky; I’ve never been big on cold bean salads, and Soul Daddy has plenty.
What really takes this food to the next level is the sauces. The tangy, bold flavor of the mustard sauce — especially when drizzled on Jamawn’s alternative to collard greens, braised kale — and the sweet, slightly peppery taste of the BBQ sauce improve everything they touch (yes, even the cold veggie salads!). The latter is delightfully remniscent of the Buff-a-Que sauce at Shane’s Rib Shack (RIP, Tampa branch!). Of course, some nutritional value is lost when every bite is liberally doused with the mouth-kicking meal enhancers, but it’s worth it. You may just be tempted to drink the leftover sauce. You’ll probably get sick, but for those first few seconds, it’ll be gloriously savory.
The only serious disappointment? There’s nothing sweet! Soul Daddy needs a healthy, two-bite take on soul-satisfying desserts, like gooey berry cobblers transformed into fresh crumbles, and mini red velvet cupcakes or palm-sized, lower-calorie pecan pies. Now that would be perfection. And it’d probably defeat the ‘healthy’ purpose. Sorry, Jamawn. Sorry, investors. I just like pie, okay?
Have you tried Soul Daddy? If so, what did you think?