After 21 years serving soul food to the Maplewood South-Orange community, Church’s Kitchen was closing.
Despite the mass of last minute orders, Judy Church and her daughter Letoya agreed to a video interview (they mention that they had turned down other media requests) when Columbia High School senior Jacob Paul, the interviewer, stopped by on Thursday, June 16, to pick up some chicken.
The video, filmed by CHS rising senior Ben Krueger, gives the full story and shows the family vibes behind Church’s Kitchen.
Jacob and Ben break some news in their interview. About three minutes in, Judy Church “tells all” about the future of the institution. Despite previous reports that Church’s was closing its doors for good, they have a buyer for the business. The Church family is still retiring. They are taking a week off and then will return to train the new owner. By October 1, says Judy, “She [the new owner] should be straight.”
Watch past the credits for some footage of Judy Church thanking Maplewood.
“And I’d like to thank everybody,” she says. “Maplewood is close to my heart. They come out, they support, they advertise, they demonstrate for me, they bring people for me, they are just a wonderful, wonderful village over there, and we love them dearly, along with everybody else too. So we thank you very much.”
If you enjoy the video, you can support Ben and Jacob’s efforts and subscribe to the YouTube channel “Trill Interviews.” Be sure to leave some love for the Church family in the comments section. Ben and Jacob are aiming to post a video a week.
Jacob Paul is a senior at Columbia High School who graduates this Wednesday and will be attending the Carnegie Mellon School of Design. Videographer Ben Krueger is a rising senior who is currently studying video production for the summer at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Church’s Kitchen is located at 2117 Springfield Ave, Vauxhall, NJ, (908) 810-1686. Village Green will update the community when Church’s Kitchen re-opens its doors.
