After years of cooking for her church and family, Kim Soto of Shelton is going professional.
Soto is using the recipes from her grandmother ("Miss Pinky"), who cooked for the Heinz corporation for more than 30 years, to serve up New Orleans-style cooking at Queen Zuri, 97 Center St.
For now the business is open Thursdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., including this weekend.
"Everything will be New Orleans style," Soto said Friday, as she opened for the day.
It started with her making desserts for her church. Her banana puddings and peach cobblers would go quickly. "Every Sunday I was making more and more desserts."
"I can't keep it [in stock]," she added.
Soto, who originally comes from New Orleans but has lived in Shelton for more than 20 years, also makes her own gumbo and even wedding cakes. But she cooks by instinct rather than measuring spoons.
"I don't measure nothing. I throw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that," she said.
Soto's always wanted to have her own business, especially because she comes from a long line of cooks. Her three brothers are all chefs.
When her husband, a Stratford police captain, retired recently, and she turned 50, she decided the time was now.
"I love to see people eat. I love to see them happy," she said.
Some of her other specialties, apart from puddings, are cupcakes (chocolate and red velvet) and cornbread. She rotates what she serves depending on the day and what she's in the mood for that day.
She added that she uses all fresh ingredients and tastes everything she makes.
"I eat everything I make. That's the problem," she joked.
Soto, whose store joins other new businesses on Center Street, hopes Queen Zuri will become a destination. It's named after her daughter, who is a freshman at St. Joseph High School in Trumbull.
The store can be reached at 203.260.0242. It has a Website, queenzuri.com, and a Facebook Page.
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