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LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) – SoulFeast Week starts Friday in Lexington.

The 10-day event highlights African American food, restaurants and chefs in and around central Kentucky.

Fourteen Black-owned restaurants are participating and they will feature entrees that cost less than $10, and every one of those entrees will have one ingredient that comes from a Black-owned farm.

Alfalfa’s Restaurant located on Main Street is one of those 14 restaurants participating in SoulFeast Week.

Martina Barksdale came up with the concept of celebrating African American culinary out of a desire to support Black businesses. The idea was sparked last summer’s protests.

“On the contrary, it’s not difficult to support Black-owned, we spend money every day, it’s just about a conscious decision to give back to a community that has been historically disenfranchised,” Barksdale said.

Tiffany and Wali El-Amin are owners of Alfalfa’s.

The husband and wife team are thankful for SoulFeast Week. It’s bringing a community together to sustain and improve business.

“You have so many Black restaurant owners, so many Black chefs and businesses owners, entrepreneurs in general, coming to the forefront at this time because we still need each other,” Tiffany said.

Tiffany says support in the African American culinary world is needed right now because being a Black entrepreneur has its challenges.

“We have to continue to tell our story of why we are deserving of that spotlight, why we are deserving to have our own box right now,” Tiffany said. “So, I think that’s the difficulty in it having to stand our ground and defend ourselves that we deserve what is coming to us right now.”

The El-Amin’s have a solution and it’s pretty simple advice for other owners, just be consistent.

“That’s the keyword consistency and that’s the hurdle that is easy to rectify,” Wali said. “Just be there when you say you’re going to be there, do what say you’re going to do and give the best service you can to these customers that are coming in.”

Visit SoulFeastWeek.com for more information.