CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — During Black History Month, conversations often center on national leaders and watershed moments. But history is also deeply local, built in neighborhoods, classrooms, churches and family kitchens.
In Corpus Christi, James Kitchen carries that history forward through food.
As the owner of Big Kitchen Foods, Kitchen is building a catering business grounded in Southern tradition and Coastal Bend flavor. But behind the fried shrimp, oxtails and banana pudding is a multi-generational story that stretches from segregation in South Texas to educational leadership in Corpus Christi.
For Kitchen, cooking is not just commerce.
It is continuation.
A foundation built at home
Kitchen says he learned to cook standing beside his parents. He studied their technique, absorbed recipes and came to understand that meals meant more than nourishment.
Food was how family gathered.
Food was how stories were told.
Food was how culture survived.
Today, his menu reflects both Southern soul food and the cultural blend unique to the Coastal Bend.
“I grew up here,” Kitchen explained. “It’s gumbo, it’s fried shrimp, it’s fried fish and fried chicken… it’s a melting pot.”
He incorporates Gulf staples like fried drum, a fish he remembers fondly from childhood, alongside traditional dishes such as neck bones and oxtails, which he notes can be difficult and expensive to source locally. His dessert lineup includes pound cake and banana pudding that customers consistently request by name.
The food tells a story of migration and mixture of Southern Black culinary tradition shaped by South Texas geography and Hispanic influence. Kitchen grew up eating enchiladas, tacos and refried beans alongside fried seafood and chicken. That blending, he says, reflects the reality of being raised in Corpus Christi.
At its core, he keeps the philosophy simple.
“It’s love.”
Deep roots in South Texas
Kitchen’s family history spans Port Lavaca, Goliad and Corpus Christi. He describes ties to ranching life and recalls growing up around cattle and open land in South Texas. Those rural roots are part of a broader family story that includes land ownership, loss through eminent domain, and perseverance through systemic barriers.
His grandmother, Ceatrice Oleen Adams Kitchen, was one of the most influential figures in his life.
Born in 1933 in Schulenburg, she attended public schools in Goliad and Baton Rouge before earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Prairie View A&M University, a historically Black university that educated generations of African American professionals during segregation.
She began her teaching career in Kingsville and ultimately spent 32 years serving students in Corpus Christi. In 1989, she retired from Corpus Christi Independent School District after becoming one of the district’s first Black reading consultants.
Her work focused on strengthening reading programs and supporting elementary campus libraries. Colleagues described her as a mentor who shared knowledge freely and pushed both students and fellow educators to reach higher standards. She was also active in civic and faith communities, serving at Calvary First Baptist Church and participating in organizations such as Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Phi Delta Kappa and the National Reading Association.
For Kitchen, her influence extended beyond professional accolades.
“I couldn’t go anywhere without, ‘I know your grandmother,’” he said.
In schools across Corpus Christi, her name carried weight. That visibility left an impression on him as a child, a living example of what leadership looked like.
He describes her as ahead of her time, a woman who held positions that had rarely, if ever, been occupied by Black women locally.
Growing up in Greenwood
Kitchen was raised in the Greenwood neighborhood of Corpus Christi, an area that became home to many Black professionals during and after segregation.
Following redlining practices that restricted where Black families could buy property, neighborhoods like Greenwood developed as centers of community strength and professional achievement. Kitchen remembers living near principals, refinery workers and district leaders.
“It was really a Black neighborhood,” he said.
He describes it as affluent during his childhood, filled with educators and community influencers. His own family built a home there in the early 1970s, a physical marker of progress during a time when opportunities had previously been limited.
But the history of segregation was never abstract.
Kitchen shared a story about a local restaurant that still displayed outdated segregation-era signage when he was young. He recalls his father telling him he was 16 years old the first time he walked through the restaurant’s front door, a reminder of how recent those barriers truly were.
When asked what it feels like to reflect on that timeline, from segregation to the present day, Kitchen answered in one word.
“Sadness.”
He acknowledged that progress has been made, but he also believes the work is ongoing.
Still, his perspective remains grounded in gratitude and responsibility.
“If they could do it with less and I have more, there’s no reason why I can’t do it as well.”
Carrying the name forward
Big Kitchen Foods is named in honor of his late father. Kitchen says his father’s presence is felt in every dish he prepares.
“He has passed, but his legacy still lives on.”
Kitchen is the first in his family to enter the restaurant industry. While education and community leadership defined earlier generations, he sees entrepreneurship as his lane, another way to contribute.
He previously operated a food truck before an accident totaled his vehicle. Rather than step away, he pivoted fully into catering. Now, he is saving toward opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant within the next two years.
The setback, he says, strengthened his resolve.
If you would like to give Big Kitchen Foods a try, you can check out their acebook page by clicking here.
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