An event aimed at raising awareness of minority-owned restaurants in the local community was hosted in the Assembly Room in downtown New Britain by the Black Foodie Expo After-Work Social on Friday, March 27. 

The atmosphere featured live music, food and drinks as people from the New Britain community came together to recognize local food businesses. 

Organizers of the event, Yusuf Hasaan and Jasmine Sampson, spoke about some of the goals they have set for hosting Black Foodie Expo events. 

“Our goal is to bring people together, eat good food and also generate revenue for small businesses,” Yusuf said. “The event’s growing and it’s all about collaborating. We still have a long way to go. There are a lot of great restaurants that do not have exposure. Our goal is to bring more awareness to them.” 

The aim is to help connect the Connecticut food scene with its diverse culture through the Black Foodie Expo. 

“We’ve known each other for over 10 years, and we are always kind of connected to food,” Jasmine said. 

The pair hosted their first event last year in New Haven, with Hartford influencer Jimmy Robinson, known as JimyOfficial, in attendance. 

“It was just a way to kind of bring people together, kind of expose new businesses and caterers and just have a good time,” Sampson said. 

“So that’s our goal with every event that we do. We want to bring people to the food, we want to celebrate community, celebrate culture, just have a good time.” 

In attendance at this year’s event were Connecticut-based food influencers the 2 Hungry Jenns. 

“Food is celebratory,” Jenn said. “This event allowed different Black businesses to showcase what they had. We totally want to support all of them.” 

The duo, both mothers, aim to share their foodie experiences around Connecticut through their engaging culinary content. 

“It’s something to celebrate. So we get excited, and it’s just kind of like a way that we’ve continued to connect and share what that experience should be like,” Jenn said. “It was nice to come in and see everybody already here engaging at the event.”