Soul At Ceol (Pronounced KEEL)

Last night I got reacquainted with my first love....Singing! My friend (and my publicist's husband) Chef Syncere held his first event...Aptly titled "Soul at Ceol" (pronounced KEEL). Ceol is an Irish Pub located at 191 Smith Street in Downtown Brooklyn.

I was apprehensive ALL DAY LONG about this gig because I haven't sung in a LONG minute...lol...so needless to say I was a nervous wreck by the time Mary picked me up. My fears dissapated quickly once I arrived at the venue. The whole set up has very cozy and down home casual feel that put me at ease almost immediately.

I made my way past the bar to the smaller dining area in the back. As Mary and I got seated the room actually began to fill up quickly. Mary's friend Justice came in shortly afterwards and joined us at our table. There was a table full of young ladies visiting from Paris...who planned on being in my city for the next 5 months....They WILL be New Yorkers when the city finishes with them...lol...Anyway, I clocked them enjoying BAR FOOD (Wings, Mozzarella Sticks & Chicken Fingers...you know...the usual) and I had to make them come back and try some Collard Greens, Fried Chicken and Mac & Cheese....some food with SUBSTANCE!!! lol....they assured me they'd be back.

Soul at Ceol is Chef Syncere's baby...he came up with the really cool idea of serving Soul Food with Soul Music once a month! I don't know about anyone else but I LOVE SOUL FOOD & SOUL MUSIC!!! How could I NOT??? Soul Music is the soundtrack to my life and Soul food????? Hell! It's what I grew up eating...and the menu doesn't disappoint. Fried Chicken, Fried Fish, BBQ Chicken, Mac & Cheese, Collard Greens, Crabcakes (THESE ARE REALLY GOOD YA'LL!!!) and a lovely mesculun salad...with Apple Cobbler for Dessert!!! You can't go wrong here ya'll...All that was missing for me...of course was the....(DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....)

POTATO SALAD!!!!! (I kid you NOT Syncere....I will NOT REST until there's some POTATO SALAD to go with my Fried Chicken/Fish!!!!!)...so there!

Jacqueline arrived shortly before my set and also joined us for dinner. Anyway, I wound up taking the stage at around 9pm and I sang three songs...that actually went over really well....I was only prepared to do 2-3 songs but by er....popular (yeah...thanks Jacqueline...heh-heh) demand (?) and after a brief break and the introduction of Chef Syncere....I came back on later to do two more requests. The crowd ate it up and really got into the songs! (They especially loved the Gladys Knight tunes!).

Afterwards, I sat down and snarfed down my crabcakes....they were SO good ya'll...you gotta try em! The owners, Loretta Heaney & Samantha Meehan loved my show and asked me to come back on the spot! As for me....it felt good to get my feet wet again in a singing venue and I am definitely excited about doing it again! We are looking at the last Wednesday of every month but I will definitely keep you all informed about the dates as they come!

Thanks as always for your continued support!

OF COURSE...it couldn't be a Runway Diva blog without SOMETHING happening right? As we were heading to our cars to go home....Jacqueline couldn't get her car to start and she couldn't turn OFF her alarm....Samantha's wonderful husband, John came out to assist and it took a concerted effort of SEVERAL men (Syncere, John and a Dominican man from the restaurant) to get her up and running again.

Lol...I don't know WHO that dominican cutie was...but he was an absolute savior to me that night....lol..I was cold and all I wanted to do was go home! Thank you Papi!

Syncere...Good looking out! Thank you so much!

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.