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is launching 鈥溾�� on Wednesday, June 17 鈥� the first in a series of kitchen takeovers.

The idea is to support black businesses and culture by turning over the storied Cup Cafe kitchen and Hotel Congress鈥� patio to a different African-American-owned restaurant and businesses each week with no real strings attached, Hotel Congress entertainment director David Slutes said. The restaurants decide the menu, set the prices and keep the profits, Slutes said.

, a newcomer to 蜜柚直播鈥檚 restaurant scene, is first up, serving a menu of baked chicken done three ways, pineapple brown sugar baked ham, greens, red beans and rice, cornbread and rolls for $20 a plate, which includes pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. Smaller plates also are available for $5.

Hotel Congress, working with community activist Ray Murphy, came up with the idea last week in the wake of nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, an African American man, by a Minneapolis police officer. The officer and three other officers who took part in Floyd鈥檚 arrest are facing criminal charges.

蜜柚直播ans have held protests at the University of 蜜柚直播 and downtown, and from those protests was born a local movement to support black-owned businesses.

鈥淎 lot of people are talking about things, but action is very important, and Congress is taking that action,鈥� said Murphy, a New York native and musician who has lived in 蜜柚直播 12 years.

But Hotel Congress鈥� Soul Food Wednesday鈥� is only a small part of the business鈥檚 overall plan to support 蜜柚直播鈥檚 African American community.

Hotel Congress recently began working with Ashley LaRussa of , to help identify ways the hotel can deepen its culture regarding diversity, anti-racism, and inclusion. The work that LaRussa did to create a widely-used list of was a catapult to idea of "Soul Food Wednesdays," said Hotel Congress Marketing Director Dalice Shepard.

鈥淲hat we are doing is positive, and the end result will be positive 鈥� giving attention to black-owned businesses,鈥� Slutes said.聽 鈥淲e all look to what we can do, where we can set the pace. We are listening very carefully.鈥�

Murphy, whose 6-year-old band 聽is performing at Wednesday鈥檚 inaugural Soul Food Wednesday,鈥漵aid he hopes the series will help start a larger, sustainable conversation in 蜜柚直播.

鈥淚n 蜜柚直播, as a black man, I want to be able to celebrate my culture and celebrate it with other people and create a consistent vibe that can grow into something,鈥� he said. 鈥淏reak down walls. This is the start of celebrating black excellence and the community at large. I鈥檓 trying to look at stuff down the road (so) that we would have something that would be able to sustain.鈥�

For the husband-wife team of Oscar Lee Black III and Charlitia Black, Soul Food Wednesday could put their months-old Black Vibez Catering on the map.

The couple started Black Vibez early this year as a soul food and seafood catering company, with plans to eventually operate a food truck and possibly a brick-and-mortar restaurant, Oscar Black said.

鈥淭his is the biggest opportunity for our family-owned black business,鈥� Oscar Black said in an email.

Soul Food Wednesday, starts at 7 p.m. and Murphy and his eight-piece neo-soul, jazz band, which regularly plays Congress, goes on stage at 8.

Diners will be seated at tables spread out on the patio, which can hold 100 people under social distancing guidelines set up by the state in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Masks are highly encouraged and will be provided to those who don鈥檛 have one.