Brooklyn native Cyndi Joiner opened Boujie Biscuit – a restaurant specializing in gourmet buttermilk biscuits, international comfort foods, and more – last month. The restaurant sits at 231 Williamsburg Square and features Joiner’s favorite dishes from around the world.
Joiner draws much of her culinary inspiration from Brooklyn, New York, where she was raised, and her mother and grandmother. Her grandparents were originally from the Carolinas and brought many southern cooking traditions to the Big Apple when they migrated north.
“I like to make international comfort food, which includes comfort foods from the south here in the U.S.,” Joiner said. “The art of Southern cooking is in my genes. My mother learned my grandmother’s style of cooking. And I learned from my mother. However, because of how multi-cultural NYC is, my mother’s dishes/meals included foods & dishes from other countries most of the time.”
With the food in New York often transcending neighborhoods, she said her family would often eat fried chicken with lasagna or oxtails with Caribbean-style rice and peas, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and Guyanese-style coconut bread. With the scents and tastes vividly etched in her memory bank, she sought to recreate those dishes in her restaurant.
“I just thought of some of my favorite dishes from around the world and narrowed it down to what I thought would be the most popular ones,” she said. “I came up with my own recipes without looking at anyone else’s and tried to appease as many tastebuds as possible with different sweet and savory options.”
Joiner’s biscuits are square-shaped and vary drastically by flavors and toppings. Foodies can enjoy everything from a Hungarian breakfast to hot chicken breasts. For those looking for something sweeter, the menu also features a bourbon-nut biscuit, cinnamon biscuit, strawberry blossom biscuit, and everything in between.
“A great biscuit starts with great ingredients, and you must also make it with love,” she said. “Making something on the fly is one thing, but when you know that a special guest is coming over, you go out of your way to find & break out the good stuff.”
She considers anyone she feeds her “special guest,” so she’s persistent in her unapologetically boujie approach to cooking. Joiner added that she prefers the square biscuit because she’s always liked clean lines and wanted her biscuits to stand out at first glance.”
Other menu items at Boujie Biscuit include a seafood curry, an African peanut stew, and garlic parmesan butter biscuits. Joiner intends to introduce more dishes from Korea, Spain, and other parts of the world.
Her culinary aspirations know no boundaries with aspirations to introduce Owensboro to caviar, smoked salmon, and duck, just to name a few.
I’m proud of every single thing I’ve added to the menu. I make all of my food from scratch, and I’m proud of that,” Joiner said. “I know what’s in everything, and I know what’s NOT in everything.”
“Comfort food is food that comforts you when you’re in a mood. Maybe you’re happy, sad, mad, or anxious,” she said. “It’s food with deep roots somewhere – good food that reminds you of your best memories and sticks with you for a lifetime. It’s basically a food hug.”
Joiner started her biscuit adventure in Mount Vernon, OH, in 2015 before opening the first Boujie Biscuit in Franklin, IN, in 2017, Louisville in 2018, and Indianapolis in 2021. After withstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, she eventually closed her last restaurant in 2022.
After taking some to reflect and recover from a wrist injury, she landed in Owensboro. Boujie Biscuit is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday through Saturday. Joiner also offers white glove delivery services in the Louisville area, something she hopes to do in Owensboro soon. She also ships items to several states across the country.
“I’m excited to be here,” Joyner said. “I’m not trying to conquer the world with my biscuits – I’m just trying to elevate our beloved American staple and introduce people to new cultures through food. I’m boujie about my biscuits and hope people appreciate that I think they deserve the best, even if it’s just occasionally.”
