Celebrating Mildred Council's legacy and what's next for Mama Dip's Kitchen

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Celebrating Mildred Council's legacy and what's next for Mama Dip's Kitchen

By Leoneda Inge

Published January 3, 2024 at 12:43 PM EST

The Mama Dip's Kitchen sign sits outside of the restaurant in Chapel Hill. — Spring Council and her siblings, all co-owners of Mama Dip鈥檚 Kitchen in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, have recently put the Rosemary Street building up for sale. Mama Dip was the nickname of Mildred Council who opened the restaurant in 1976, and passed away in 2018.

The late Mildred 鈥淢ama Dip鈥� Council opened her restaurant Mama Dip鈥檚 Kitchen in the mid-1970s. Nearly 50 years later, the Council family has voted to sell the restaurant and the land where it sits, a big move for the town鈥檚 oldest Black-owned restaurant. Leoneda Inge takes us to Chapel Hill where a second and third generation of African American family cooks work to make sure 鈥淢ama Dip鈥檚鈥� legacy lives on.

This story was produced for the Southern Foodways Alliance podcast .

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Due South Southern Food

Leoneda Inge

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of 瓜神app's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at 瓜神app as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda鈥檚 work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital 瓜神app Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.

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