ATLANTA — No one knows Usher better than his mother, Johnetta Patton, who was his first manager: She nurtured him and his career and helped create the superstar we know today.
Now, Patton is turning that passion into purpose with a new business venture: J’s Smokehouse, a food truck.
Channel 2’s Karyn Grier sat down with Patton to talk about her new business venture and ask how her superstar son is doing, whose tour was recently postponed due to a neck injury.
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Helping to nurture and create superstars is nothing new for Patton: More than 30 years ago, she believed in her son, multiple Grammy Award-winning Usher Raymond IV, when others didn’t.
“I’ve enjoyed creating for 17 years one of the biggest artists in the world,” Patton told Channel 2 Action News. “I do the same with my own work. [cooking] Incubator, and now J’s Smokehouse.”
A culinary entrepreneur and businesswoman, she channels her creative passion into her smokehouse and mobile food trailer.
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“What makes our menu different is that we have vegan options,” Patton said. “We have pulled pork sandwiches and vegan smokehouse hot dogs, which are all amazing.”
While celebrity-owned restaurants are not uncommon in Atlanta, Patton said the chef makes the difference.
She chose chef Greg Dennis for her new smokehouse.
“We have great ribs that fall off the bone, brisket that’s slow smoked for 13 hours, and great grandma’s Southern fried collard greens,” Dennis told Grier. “We also do a seven-cheese macaroni blend, and we have vegan options.”
The store opened to a packed crowd on August 2nd, and of course Usher came out to support his mother.
“So it was really sweet for him to say, ‘Mom, I’m so proud of you,'” Patton said.
Of course, following the news of the concert postponement and injury, Grier couldn’t help but ask how Usher was doing.
“It was very stressful for him because he always wants to do his best,” Patton said. “Very, very stressful, but he’s OK. The doctors advised him to just rest. He’s coming off the Super Bowl and he’s been through a lot in between, so he needs to rest. It was just too hard.”
Patton said she has no plans to slow down business: From the food truck to the brick-and-mortar restaurant, Jay’s Smokehouse’s menu can be found online, she said.
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