It Was Tough Enough Keeping Her Business Going

Brenda Buenviaje (Chronicle photo)

Louisiana-born Brenda Buenviaje never claimed she was Black. The Filipino-Italian-French restauranteur owns Brenda’s French Soul Food, which some social media sites mistakenly listed as Black-owned. She was accused of race fraud.

The activist Chronicle food writer says this attempted cancellation was going too far:

race in no way limits culinary expertise. I know Black chefs cooking Italian food, and as is the case with Brenda, a multiracial Filipina chef cooking Creole food.

“I don’t know what to do here, because I’ve never at any time said I was Black,” Brenda told me last week when the dialogue around her race was reaching a peak. “I’ve talked about my identity before, and even on my YouTube page and on my website, you can see pictures of me. I wish I could clear this up.”

I imagine some of this anger was born out of disappointment, as Black folks who only knew Brenda’s food and not Buenviaje herself hoped her popular Creole spots were Black-owned. And, honestly, I can understand that desire. Eventually, the situation cooled off for Brenda online as people talked, and some clarity was gained about her background.

Brenda, like most business people, embraced the power of the Internet to showcase her cooking talent. Unfortunately, she was unwillingly sucked in to today's culture wars, which restricts careers, political, religious, and artistic expression, even speech and language, to members of approved groups.

Once Yelp created a category for Black-Owned Restaurants, controversies became inevitable. Thank goodness in this case there appears to be no lasting damage to Brenda and her restaurants. And if you don't have a friend in the media, God help you.