One of the most exciting new restaurants to open over the summer in Easton is Foodworkz, a restaurant incubator. If you don’t what that means, don’t worry, I didn’t either.

The concept of Foodworkz is that every month an entirely different menu and style of food is introduced under a different chef. The folks at Foodworkz want to mentor these chefs and use the restaurant space and the built-in staff infrastructure as a means to fast-track exciting new projects. The current iteration is called “LB’s Soul Kitchen” and features all that good southern cooking you’ve heard so much about.

When I went in around 6:15 p.m. on a Tuesday, the restaurant was empty. The space is well presented, striking a modern tone with the trappings of a local eatery. Many local artists are displayed on the walls.

The current menu is minimalistic and offers delectable options from fried chicken to cornbread muffins to classic collared greens. Vegetarian, gluten free, and dairy free symbols were abundant and when my friend, who is allergic to eggs, asked what he could eat, the waitress was very helpful in explaining and clearly knew her stuff. Turns out she was one of the owners.

When I mentioned that one of us had to leave early from the meal, she was extremely accommodating in getting that dish out first, providing to-go boxes, and overall going above and beyond in her capacity to serve us.

I have always been a fan of the small menu because, in my experience, that usually means the restaurant has chosen to make a few dishes fantastic rather than offer a wide selection featuring many items of middling quality. However, not everyone enjoys that experience and I recommend glancing at the current menu before you dine here.

Part (or perhaps most) of the kitchen is in full view of the house, placed behind a couple of metal counters. The kitchen in view reinforces the transparency and openness that the restaurant offers you and I am now fully of the mind that it is a good choice.

Unsurprisingly, given the lack of other customers, we received our food quite quickly and were immediately rewarded with a feast of delicious smells. The meals are presented artistically on wooden cutting boards and it’s clear that presentation is important to the chef.

I had the chicken wings and the cornbread muffins. The chicken is on the bone and really exactly what I imagine my ideal chicken wing to be. I’ve always been a fan of chicken wings and this one certainly ranked up there with the best I’ve had: well-cooked, well-seasoned, and not too much batter.

The cornbread muffins were less to my liking. They were slightly crumbly and certainly not my favorite. Applying fruit sauce to them made a delicious snack, which is probably how they are meant to be eaten anyway. I’m just a bit of a cornbread/muffin person. Everyone else at the table also enjoyed their meals. The fried chicken especially was a big favorite. One of my friends said it reminded him of fried chicken and beans he had in Nashville and noted that it was “good soul food of the best variety.”

That was certainly our experience at the restaurant: good soul food beckoning you in from the wilds of the world to temporarily relinquish the tension in your shoulders and put your feet up for an hour and a half of eating.

Our experience was overwhelmingly positive. The space was lovely, the staff extremely friendly, the food delicious, and the vibes were welcoming and warm. I highly recommend checking this place out; just make sure you check the menu first to make sure you’re down with the style of the food and the price. The prices were slightly more than I would usually pay for dinner but very reasonable given the high quality of the food and how much we enjoyed it. I’m very excited to see the next iteration of FoodWorkz.

As of today, Lafayette students will have 10% off their bill at Foodworkz.