Earlier this week, I got to experience a dream come true. How often do you get to sit down and have dinner with one of your favorite LEGENDARY artists?

Well I did on Monday, and I can’t stop talking about it. It was a private, family-style celebration for Erykah Badu as we celebrated her role as host and executive producer of the 2016 Soul Train Awards. But, it wasn’t your traditional dinner party, we experienced “soul” the Badu way. A sit-down dinner of only 25 guests stuffing our faces with the finest of vegan foods, all while wearing “kimono-style” dress as requested.

Badu floated into the room looking like an angel and went straight to lighting incense and candles in the room. She set the mood with one of her playlist which consisted of calming jazz tunes and even a little Drake. After a few glasses of wine and delicious appetizers we were asked to take a seat at the table for dinner to begin.

Badu thanked “all the beautiful people” for sharing “this moment” with her. We were then introduced to Afro-Vegan Chef, Bryant Terry, who spoke about his work and the excitement he felt about cooking for Ms. Badu. She then asked guests to bow their heads in for a moment of silence in prayer. This was a beautiful moment for me, a memory of past dinners with my family in prayer giving thanks to faith, love, health, and the food we were about to consume.

Then came dinner: glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, purple potato soup and BBQ potatoes were a few of the delicious rounds of bites that had my stomach about to burst.

The food was prepared by Afro-Vegan Chef, Bryant Terry, hors d’oeuvres by Ghetto Gastro paired with wines from Mouton Noir Wines and dessert by Jaynelle St. Jean, owner of Pietisserie.

The green tea tonic had my end of the table raving about how amazing it was. We asked one of the servers to introduce us to who made the secret concoction. We were shocked to learn that it was just spearmint, lemon juice, and honey. There was no secret Badu ingredient. The last course of the night was spiced apple pie with a side of non-dairy vanilla ice cream. (Man, If I could eat the way we did every night I would be the happiest girl in the world!)

We concluded the dinner with two games to spice things up. The first game we went around the table to say what we were thankful for. BUT, plot twist, this “I’m thankful for” was celebrity inspired. We picked a card from Badu’s oversized hat and told the table what each star would be thankful for. Drake, Serena Williams, Michelle Obama, Dj Khaled, Kanye West and Miley Cyrus were a few names passed around the table. I chose First Lady Michelle Obama.

The second game was a Soul Train slogan-inspired one call “Love, Peace and, Happiness.” We were asked; What fuels your happiness? What is one thing or person you would like to go away? What is one thing you love about yourself? Ms. Badu shared that being able to perform brought her happiness, mosquitoes can go the hell away, and the thing she loves about herself is that she is a giver.

The night ended with the ‘itis, selfies/photos with Badu, and the entertainer letting us know “You are all worthy of love and life.”

Watch Erykah Badu host the Soul Train Awards on Sunday, Nov. 27, at 8 p.m. EST on BET and Centric.

 


Diahann “Dee” Williams is a photographer, writer, and Social Media Specialist for the EBONY brand. You can connect with her on Twitter & Instagram or DeexDee.com