USC’s hidden master chef

From being a full time student during the week to meal prepping and cooking a variety of homemade food plates for her business, “Jordie’s Joint,” on the weekends, Jordyn Roberson does it all.

Jordie’s Joint is a Black female-owned business, where people can buy spicy cajun plates, chicken wings oozing with sweet barbecue glaze, creamy mouthwatering baked mac and cheese and fluffy warm buttermilk vanilla waffles that smell like home. The chef, Jordyn Roberson, a sophomore studying human development and aging, has found her home in the kitchen since she was young.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 quarantine, she started a food and fitness blog on Instagram called “Jordie’s Recipes and Reps.” She soon became a star among family and friends.

But Roberson’s passion pulled her to keep learning, and she dedicated her free time to watching cooking videos on YouTube channels like “Bon Appétit” and “Epicurious.”

“I mean my parents knew how to cook, but I wasn’t really watching them and writing it down,” Roberson said. “It was really through trying new things, I just like exploring with new food.”

After posting for about two years, she finally took the leap to start her business in fall of 2022. It was a nerve wracking process, but she didn’t do it alone. Roberson, along with her three friends, sat in her living room planning everything out for hours. Together, they wrote down recipes, brainstormed when to launch, and created a new Instagram page, “Jordie’s Joint,” to get the word out.

“It was so fun,” Roberson said about the process. “My friend made the logo, then we worked on the color scale. One of my other friends suggested funny plate names. It was really a team effort.”

The launch was a success. “I was just so overwhelmed with how many people wanted to support me and repost my page,” Roberson said.

Much of Roberson’s inspiration comes from her community and she uses Jordie’s Joint to connect through her food. “I ask around to see what people want for the week,” Roberson said. Many requests were for Cajun and soul food, which was a big change for her because she wasn’t always cooking soul food at home.

“Soul food is something you eat more on special occasions or like a Sunday,” Roberson said. Nonetheless, her care for her customers and community made her determined to perfect her signature “Food for the Soul Plate.”

At first she just took pre-orders. But one day, she set up outside Leavey Library and sold out within an hour. “I was like wait, that was amazing and incredible,” Roberson expressed. That’s when she started doing pop-ups.

How does she manage all of this with school?

Roberson shops on Fridays when she doesn’t have classes and cooks on Sundays, accomplishing most of her homework during the week. “It’s kind of easy when it’s something you’re passionate about,” Roberson said.

Emma Stellar, a sophomore majoring in sociology, spoke to Roberson’s work ethic. “There’s so many different layers to what she’s doing that go unnoticed,” Stellar said. “Those hours she spends studying and then waking up at 6 a.m. to start cooking for people, doing all these things just because she loves it, I think is so admirable and so rare.”

Her recipe Instagram page is called “Jordie’s Recipes,” but she really just posts her food because she doesn’t measure anything. She makes her recipes a little different each time, exploring different ways to perfect her variety of plates.

Au Chung, a customer of Jordie’s Joint and sophomore majoring in public relations, expressed their admiration for Roberson’s passion for cooking.

“You can tell that she really cares about her cooking and that translates over to when you have her food,” Chung said. “The palette and flavors are there, the mac ‘n cheese is to die for! Just being able to support someone who cares for what they do is rewarding in all senses.”

Feben Worku, a sophomore majoring in business administration, expressed how Jordie’s Joint represents love in this community.

“It’s just made with love,” Worku said. “You can really tell that she puts a lot of effort and time towards it and she truly cares about her clients.” When it comes to her favorite dish, Worku debated between the Cajun Plate or Chicken and Waffles.

“Her chicken was actually seasoned insanely perfect,” Worku said. “All her food is seasoned extremely well and it comes from that love.”

Roberson understands that life can get expensive sometimes, so she tries to make her plates as affordable as possible.

“I know some Black-owned food businesses get some support, but also that they’re expensive and I get it,” Roberson said. “Cooking is labor for sure, but I try my best to make it affordable and still make a profit from it at the end of the day.”

Roberson is currently working on her license and getting a permit so she can sell food on campus. Her website will be launching very soon for people excited to try her food out.

“I really appreciate and love anybody that comes to support me. Supporting a small business is huge and I’m just very grateful,” Roberson said.