“WE tv is serving up another side of drama during its popular Thursday night lineup; with the addition of its new culinary docu-series “Hustle & Soul”, premiering Thursday, March 16^th at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The six-episode, one-hour series follows Lawrence Page, owner and head chef of The Pink Tea Cup restaurant. Lawrence resurrected the former West Village landmark and moved to the Fort Greene, Brooklyn on his quest to bring his culinary vision for soul food to the next level!”

I recently visited the The Pink Tea Cup to meet with Chef Lawrence to see if what was going on in his kitchen stacked up to that portrayed on the screen. I was delighted to find a disarmingly humble and charming Chef with real dreams of making his food count for something big.

Lawrence Page has gone from taking over the iconic brand of The Pink Tea Cup frequented by many celebrities to losing everything and facing homelessness to bouncing back and starting all over again.

It takes this kind of mettle to dream big and work hard to achieve what he wants. Following his mothers words who taught him how to cook from a place deep inside when she told him that “You can’t buy soul in a store – it’s in you” – that is where he finds all his inspiration to cook from. Lawrence Page aims to make the best soul food you have ever had and elevate it to a level, which earns him a Michelin star.

I sampled some of the Chef Page’s creations and they were really outstanding. The fried catfish was done to perfection – it was crispy yet there was no oily residue.

I really loved the ‘Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Sweet Potato Pecan Waffles’. All of Chef Page’s cooking is done with a really light touch. Nothing is too heavy or laden with oil.

One of my favorite dishes was the ‘Holy Trinity Shrimp’ served with grits done differently. It almost tasted like polenta but they were grits!

Lawrence Page with The Pink Tea Cup restaurant certainly has the “Hustle & Soul” to achieve all his dreams. Follow his journey on WE tv and check out the première here.

Here is some of what we ate: