"Just look in the Callowhill [Street] Whole Foods," Redcross continued. "And see the percentage of African Americans in there looking for healthier food."
"Easily 20 percent," Mercer chimed in later. "They're not there because they want to spend a lot of money on food," he said, laughing.
Stephanie Daniel, a brunch regular and tennis instructor, sees a growing trend: "More and more black people, and everyone else, want to turn their diet around."
At the brunch, there's a festive but relaxed atmosphere, with live music. Sam Lackey takes requests at the keyboard for much of the afternoon, and a band was rehearsing onstage as I arrived. The elegantly presented buffet offers a wide variety of good vegan food, all you can eat for $12.
"There's a choice of five or six items, plus a hearty salad with some serious vegetables," Evelyn Redcross explained. She noted signature dishes like "sausage mushroom balls and sea cake - people who don't know think they're eating crab cakes - chili, lasagna, French toast, pancakes."
On my visit I also saw beans and rice, sausage and tofu scramble, and a side of collard greens.
Darrell Cuff, another brunch patron, was raving about the collards: "I'm about to go back there and get the chef and hold him down: 'What did you put in these greens?' "
Obviously, in this case, bacon, fatback and chicken stock are all absent. But the chef, Sanford "Stan" Redcross, a relative of Mercer's, said there was no big secret recipe: "Vegetable stock - that's the best you can use - and then salt and pepper to taste. A little cane sugar - evaporated cane juice."
