LOS ANGELES – The Black Restaurant Coalition was started to support Black-owned restaurants during the pandemic and beyond. One local food truck joined to receive support, promotion, and resources.
Michael Castillo and Karmon Dupree, founders of Day and Night LA, are serving up bowls of sweet nostalgia to Angelenos.
The foodie friends met two years ago and were instantly connected by their passion for supporting the community, which they’ll be doing through their food truck offering cereal bowls and shakes with hard to find and international options.
“We all have cereal in our pantry and we guarantee if you open that up, you’re going to see two or three boxes of cereal,” said Castillo.
“Absolutely. It’s something that each community can identify with. It plays into our diversity and our cultural backgrounds. We wanted to reach every community here in L.A.,” said Dupree.
Day and Night opened right during the pandemic. The two founders say it’s actually easier to operate a food truck now even under all the restrictions. They decided it was a good time to drive around Los Angeles offering some much-needed fun to Angelenos.
“Bring some sort of happiness and joy to the community in such a terrible time,” said Dupree.
Being minority business owners, they understand some of the hardships that come with opening a concept. This is why they decided to join the Black Restaurant Coalition, which aims to help Black-owned businesses with promotion, advocacy, and resources.
“It’s empowering when you have the resources to accomplish any goal, especially in the climate right now during COVID-19. It’s very helpful and very impactful,” said Dupree.
Founder of Dine Black LA, Jade Stevens said she started the coalition to support businesses like Day and Night get through the pandemic and get noticed by consumers.
“The reality is most of the issues and challenges these businesses were facing were before COVID-19 and will honestly continue passed COVID-19. So, the coalition is meant to uplift and support Black restaurants and this is just a small part of what can be a thriving Black community,” said Stevens.
With the promotion from Dine Black LA, Dupree and Castillo will continue curating a wall full of celebratory cereals for when you just want to treat yourself.
If you are a Black restaurant owner and would like to join, the submission fee is currently waived and applications are open.