All Episodes

April 3, 2025 • 13 mins

Dr. Vanessa Tyler talks with restaurateur partners  Nigel Douglas and Shauna Neely of Douglas Neely Hospitality Group (DNHG). Together they are owners of the first and only Black-owned caviar brand in the Tri-State area. They also manage several restaurants including Caviar in Edgewater, NJ. They discuss how caviar is one of the biggest trends happening in the culinary scene currently, and how DNHG are bringing caviar to the culture by creating a unique and elevated dining experience.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
I'm Vanessa Tyler. Join me for dinner. Two Black Restaurant
tours guarantee will be like no other. The place is beautiful,
service great, but what's on the menu is pretty unique,
not the usual. Our reservation is ready in black Land
and now, as a brown person, you just feel so
invisible where we're from.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Brothers and sisters.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
I welcome you to this joyful and day.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
We celeb freedom where we are.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
I know someone heard something.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
And where we're going. We the people means all the people.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
The Black Information Network presents Blackland with your host, Vanessa Tyler.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
When was the last time dining out was an experience?
Beautiful surroundings and pickable service and of course amazing food.
That's the vibe Nigel Douglas and Shawn and Neely have
created with a new restaurant that's on another level. Partners
SHAWNA and Nigel from d NHG Douglas Neely Hospitality Group. Welcome,

(01:12):
thank you, thank you. What a lovely introduction.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Lovely lovely.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
It was a line from the old TV show Lifestyles
of the Rich and Famous that went wishing you champagne
wishes and caviar dreams.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
I'm Robin Leach for those Champlaine wishes and Caviar dreams.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
I love that you made that dream of reality, Shauna,
talk about Caviar, the restaurant you.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
Just open, you know what. I'm glad that you just
made that reference, because we actually did make our dreams
come true. Nigel, when I started this journey back in
twenty twenty one, we partnered up to create Douglas Neely
Hospitality Group, and Caviar is the first baby that we've
birthed together under our hospitality company. We wanted to elevate
our everyone's dining experience. We wanted to not just serve

(01:59):
them the same things that everyone always serves in these
minority on restaurants. Shrimp and grits are great, Chicken and
waffles are great. But Nigel challenged me and said, Shawanna,
what is brunch and what does dining look like ten
years from now? And we said Caviar, and Caviar was
birthed at that moment. We found a beautiful location on

(02:19):
the Gold Coast in Edgewater, New Jersey, and the space
is absolutely stunning. We can't wait for you to see it.
And it just it just all worked. It was a
perfect It was a perfect storm.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
That space is beautiful. I did attend one of your
receptions and you at that time, you gave us a
tour and you explained how it was meant to be,
how the space was just there like a blank canvas,
just waiting for you guys.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yes, yes, and it was. And we didn't use we
didn't use any designer. Naje and I designed the entire
project ourselves. We g sed the project ourselves. We took
our time. We paid attention to every single detail, down
to the door knobs, down to the saltn pepper shakers,
down to the silver we're down to the plating. Everything
was a super thoughtful concentration to make it what it is.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Yeah, beautiful. Down to the leather wallpaper.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Oh yes, we have custom leather wallpaper upstairs with crown moldings.
We have custom white leather wallpaper. We have custom wallpaper
with our logo. We have a graffiti wall with all
of our kids' names on it, all of the partner's
names are on it. It's a subway series and it
just really adds a nice vibrant touch to the elegant space.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Even the Moroccan light.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
We argued about.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
Three months we have a gorgeous chandelier. It's a custom
chandelier from Morocco. But we have thirty five foot tall ceilings.
So it just made sense that we had a wow
factor and it took a long time for it to come,
but everyone loves it and it totally makes the space.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Now, Nigel, talk about your food philosophy, how you became
a chef, and you know, kind of continue about your
mission to elevate the palettes of black people.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
I think, you know, for me, it started off at
a young age. I'm originally from the Caribbean. I'm from Guyana,
South America, and of course, you know growing up and
watching my mom, you know, prepare meals. And my mom
had four boys and one of the principles that she
taught us was you have to know how to fend

(04:17):
for yourself, right, So she taught us how to make
the little things early and be responsible. And I think
for me, growing up in a certain way, I've always
wanted to challenge myself. I've always been an entrepreneur since
I was about seventeen, and I've always liked quality things,

(04:42):
and so for me, when I thought about being a
chef or you know, becoming a restaurant tour. I want
people to come into my home, you know. I think
for me, that's that's really the first element, you know,
And anyone that comes and dines at Caviat or any
of my other restaurants, it's like being at home. It's
like coming to see your family. Let's hang out, Let's

(05:03):
sit around the table, let's share a couple of plates,
and let's have fun, you know, and then the food
is fun, you know, and it just makes everything just
come together.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
You mentioned your other restaurants. Many in the Atlanta area
certainly know you from your traditional brunch spot, the real
milk and honey. Correct, And that's where we get the
shrimps and shrimp and grits and red velvet pancakes and
biscuits and stuff.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
Do you think we're stuck in terms of our palettes
as black people?

Speaker 3 (05:35):
You know what?

Speaker 2 (05:35):
I think in certain elements, know and certain elements, Yes,
And I think that's how Caviat Wars Birth died. And
like you know, Seana mentioned, we wanted to challenge not
only ourselves, but we wanted to bring this dining experience
to the culture.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
You know.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
You know, we're in the twenty first century and diversity
is not just you know, one thing, it's a multitude
of things. I think being able to access caviat and
have it when you want to and sit and have
champagne is where we are, you know, as a culture.
And I think that's the experience that we wanted to

(06:13):
bring to everything you know that we do. We don't
want it to just be like, oh, you know, just
another brunch spot, you know, because anyone could do that, right,
we can that That's that's I'm not saying that anyone
can do it just because but I can copy and paste,
you know what I've done at the real Milk and
Honey anywhere. But we created something completely different.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
Do you guys everythink about like our relationship to food.
There was a time where as black people we ate
scraps really and now we're we're eating.

Speaker 3 (06:49):
Caviar, and I think that that is tremendous. I think
that that is the natural evolution for us. And I
think that that's why Nagel and I are trying to
push that needle forward and create a new narrative for
us us so that we can elevate our dining experience.
And caviar was always thought of as something that was
unattainable for us, for a lot of people, not just

(07:09):
black people. And so right now Caviar is one of
the biggest trends happening in the culinary scene, and I
really love that.

Speaker 1 (07:15):
For us, what they're doing is groundbreaking because the black
business partners have their own Caviar label, but.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
We might be the only black owned restaurant that is
promoting and taking it to the next level of having
our own Caviar brand, you know, bringing Caviar to the culture.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
In the country. Yeah, maybe we got to find out
because we're doing some special thing, you know.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
So bottom line, it is a business and today black
supporting black is more important than ever. How to create
that that mindset to make sure, especially now we spend
our dollars where it counts mm hmm.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
With this new election and everything that's happening in the world,
I want to just say a shout out and a
thing through to everyone that has supported us because of
that reason, and it means the world to us. I mean,
it couldn't have been a better and a more perfect
storm for us. People are coming out, they are coming
from all over, they're driving three hours from Philly, they're

(08:18):
driving from all over just to come and experience this experience.
And so that just means it just means everything to us.
And we're just happy that we exist. We happy that
we have it. We are going to grow tremendously and
we want. We plan to put a caviar in every
major city in this country and beyond. I mean we're
looking at London, we are looking at Dubai. I mean,

(08:40):
you know, baby steps first, but like I said, Naje
on our visionaries and the sky's the limit and we're
just going to keep going. We're just getting started. And
that's just getting started.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
Seanna, you love cave Are you turned Nigel onto it?
What do you suggest to appeal to a person who
has never tried it? What should how should they eat it?
What should they have it?

Speaker 3 (08:59):
So I like to do this in the restaurant when
first time caviar tryers are coming into the restaurant. I
like when they bring me over to the table or
if they tell me this is the first time, and
I we have we sell all the caviars online, but
in the restaurant, we have three different kinds. And what
I do is I like to tell them the different tasting,
the different flavors and the tasting notes in each one,

(09:20):
and the first one that I usually start off with
is the milder one, which is the cooluga, and then
I show them how to build it. Our cavear surface
is really special because every sauce that we make in
the restaurant and for caviar service is homemade. So we
make our own crim fresh in house. We make our
own bleany with your little mini pancakes, We make these
mini hash miles. Everything is made to order. We make

(09:43):
our own homemade potato chips. Everything is made to order.
I like to just tell the story about caviar. I
also like to remind people that caviar is actually brain food.
It is full of all the omegas that your brain
needs to thrive and to grow more brain cells. A
lot of people don't know that, and it's just a
really good source. It's one of the best delicacies on

(10:03):
the planet. And once people try it, because they're like,
oh my god, it's fish eggs, But once they try it,
they absolutely fall in love with it.

Speaker 2 (10:10):
So we topped some caviar pasta. You know, I see
that you mix that with some salmon road, which gives
you a salt in it, like a saltiness, but it's
balanced and so yeah, you know, and that's what we
wanted to introduce that you just didn't have to have,
you know, caviar by itself. When we get introduced caviar
on all these different meals and create these different elements

(10:31):
that just melt in your mouth and have all these
different flavors attribute it to, you know, a culinary experience.

Speaker 3 (10:38):
We just put caviar on a burger. It's delicious.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
The black entrepreneurs know owning a restaurant is tough business,
and those starting a business of any kind now will
likely not have the supportive government loans set aside for
black businesses. Their advice just move ahead, full force on
the type.

Speaker 3 (10:58):
And I think Nie was the same. I feed off
of passion. I will jump off of a cliff and
I will let God build my wings on the way down,
and I've never failed. I did that in my jewelry business,
and I do that now. To be an entrepreneur is
one of the most courageous things you can do. Some
people couldn't last five minutes in our lives the things
that we go through, but that doesn't stop us. It
takes a certain type of person to want to be

(11:21):
an entrepreneur, and it is not easy, but it is
absolutely worth it. You just got to keep pushing every
single d You just got to do it. You remember
that Michael Jordan commercial when you showed they showed all
the stages of his life and then they show him
dunk and winning all those championship. He just did it.
And that's my.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
Philosophy, My honest philosophy is when you start, you can't quit.
You just have to find a strategy around it, and
that's what gets you to the finish line. My second
strategy is that you help each other come up.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
Right.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
So one of my dreams, and I've talked about this
on multiple platforms, is being able to have a hub, because, yeah,
if you can't get the government grants and the government funding,
we have to have our own platform. We have to
have our own hub, We have to have our own resources.
We have to be able to communicate at a high

(12:13):
level amongst other entrepreneurs and share information to allow each
other to grow and support each other, because that's really
what it boils down to, right, You need support. I
don't care what you say as an entrepreneur, if you
do not open your mouth and ask for help. You're
never going to get it and you're never gonna survive

(12:33):
in a market that is up and down. You have
to ask. You have to ask for help, right, but
you also need to have the people that are willing
to support you along the.

Speaker 1 (12:44):
Way and like they got to hand up, they plan
to reach back.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
And then also being able to give back and saying, hey, listen,
don't don't make that step. I made that step ten
years ago. Skip that step. Here's here's how you do it,
and this is why you why you don't want to
take that step. It's gonna you know, it's gonna impact
your business a certain type of way. So just being
able to give them that support and those elements.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
I think that's fantastic. Shanna. How can our listeners connect
with you guys?

Speaker 3 (13:13):
The best way I think is to reach us through
Instagram at Caviar Edgewater is the best way. And our
website yeah www dot Caviar by DNHG dot com.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
Shauna and Nigel partners and Douglas Neely Hospitality Group restaurant
owners and their latest Caviar in Edgewater, New Jersey. Thank
you both for shifting the culture with the experience.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
Thank you for having us.

Speaker 3 (13:40):
Thanks so much.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
I'm Vanessa Tyler. Join me next time On black Land,
a new episode is waiting for you every Friday,
Advertise With Us

Host

Vanessa Tyler

Vanessa Tyler

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.