Pamela Strobel (c. 1920- c. 1998) was a woman whose little restaurant in her Alphabet City apartment drew New York’s culinary elite to her doorstep. Much of her story remains a mystery, but her soul food recipes and no-nonsense attitude towards cooking have become the stuff of legend.
Pamela Strobel (c. 1920- c. 1998) was a woman whose little restaurant in her Alphabet City apartment drew New York’s culinary elite to her doorstep. Much of her story remains a mystery, but her soul food recipes and no-nonsense attitude towards cooking have become the stuff of legend.
Food has been a unifier for millennia, not just gathering people together to share a meal, but acting as a warm introduction to new histories and traditions. This February on Womanica, we’re celebrating Tastemakers - the Black chefs, cooks, and food historians who created new foodways and preserved important culinary stories of the past. The impact of chefs like Pig Foot Mary, Mama Dip, and Georgia Gilmore stretch far beyond the culinary scene - uplifting their local communities and inspiring those who came after them.
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Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Chef Kia Damon.
I'm a Florida born chef, writer, host and recipe developer. I served as an executive Chef of New York City restaurant Lalito at the age of 24, and became Cherry Bombe magazine's first Culinary Director at 25. Since leaving I've founded Kia Feeds The People, a budding mutual aid effort. I’ll be your guest host for this month of Womanica.
This month, we’re talking about Tastemakers. We’re celebrating the Black chefs, cooks, and food historians who created new foodways and preserved important culinary stories of the past.
Today, we’re talking about a woman whose little restaurant in her Alphabet City apartment drew New York’s culinary elite to her doorstep. Much of her story remains a mystery, but her soul food recipes and no-nonsense attitude towards cooking have become the stuff of legend.
Please welcome Pamela Strobel.
Pamela was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina in the late 1920s. There’s a lot we don’t know about her early life, including her birth name. The name Pamela was actually a pet name one of the local church ladies gave her. We do know that culinary skill ran in her family — her mom and uncle were both pastry chefs. And her grandmother Addie, was well-known in the community for her cooking. Each Sunday, Addie served food to any church ladies who stopped by. And they all doted on her granddaughter.
From a young age, Pamela knew she wanted to run her own restaurant. She had a toy stove and loved to pretend to make lavish meals for her dolls. When Pamela was 10, her mother passed away. And a year later, so did her grandmother. Pamela needed work, so she bought a bus ticket and traveled to North Carolina to find a job at a restaurant.
At first she could only find work washing dishes. People thought she was too young to handle herself in the kitchen — she was so small she could hardly lift a frying pan. But she was persistent. And soon enough, she was whipping up pork chops and steaks for customers at the corner restaurant near the R.J. Reynolds tobacco plant.
In 1950, Pamela moved to New York City. There, she shared an uptown apartment with a friend she’d met at a restaurant job. Pamela worked days at a chemical factory and nights at the restaurant where her roommate danced.
By 1965, Pamela had moved downtown to an apartment in Alphabet City. She pooled together enough money from generous neighbors to start running a small restaurant out of her place. When she got her business cards made, the printer suggested she go by Princess Pamela. The name stuck.
Pamela named her new restaurant The Little Kitchen. It was sort of like a speakeasy. Visitors rang the doorbell and Pamela would let them in — or not, depending on her mood and whether she liked the look of them. For her regulars, Pamela sometimes just threw down a key from her window so they could let themselves up.
When it first opened, diners at The Little Kitchen’s could expect to get a plate of fried chicken, collard greens and black-eyed peas for one dollar and 35 cents. But, the menu was likely to vary depending on Pamela’s mood. Pamela employed a cook named Ada, who served and prepared everything out of the tiny kitchen off the living room.
Dining at Pamela’s place was a coveted experience. Only about 15 patrons could squeeze into the cramped space at once. Customers sat at mismatched chairs and tables covered with green checkered cloths. The atmosphere was cozy, but Pamela expected her visitors to behave themselves. You couldn’t go to the bathroom without asking permission first. And complaining about the limited menu was a sure way to get thrown out.
Pamela opened the restaurant every night around 5 and closed whenever she felt like it. If patrons were lucky enough to stick around after hours, they were treated to jazz music performances. Pamela sang lead, of course, and was backed by a live band.
Despite The Little Kitchen’s unusual location and atmosphere, it quickly became a must-visit spot among New Yorkers in the know. It was championed by New York Times food editor Craig Claiborne. Pamela’s simple but delicious dishes also attracted plenty of famous guests — from Diana Ross and Ringo Starr to Andy Warhol and Gloria Steinhem.
But Pamela didn’t care whether her customers were big names or nobodies — her restaurant was open to all. She once said, “Like Monaco, this is gonna be Princess Pamela’s Kingdom Come and the only passport anyone is gonna need is lovin’ kindness and a good appetite for soul cookin.’”
Pamela’s growing popularity as a chef in the New York City food scene eventually led to the publication of her cookbook. “Princess Pamela’s Soul Food Cookbook” was originally published in 1969. It contains 147 recipes, from pork spoon bread to molasses corn cake. Instructions for each dish are pretty simple – Pamela knew well that even with the same measurements, each cook might make a slightly different dish.
Throughout the pages, Pamela also punctuated each recipe with short poems and witticisms. These extra touches demonstrated the simple joy she found in the experience of cooking. Before one entry, she wrote, “I enjoy making rice cause I like the feel of it running through my fingers smooth and a glistenin’ pearly white with cool water washin over it.”
Pamela shut down The Little Kitchen and moved to a real storefront on East Houston Street in 1989. She continued to be known around the city not only for her great soul food but for the soul she put into her jazz singing at the end of each shift.
Then, in 1998, Pamela disappeared. Decades later, no one has been able to track down exactly what happened to her — whether she fell ill and passed away unnoticed or simply packed up and moved back to the South.
Her cookbook also fell out of print for more than 40 years. That is, until it was rediscovered by Southern food enthusiasts Matt and Ted Lee in 2004. They fell in love with Pamela’s strong and self-assured voice and her clear expertise when it came to soul food. They republished the book in 2017, exposing Pamela’s recipes and know-how to a wider audience for the first time in decades.
It may never be clear what became of Pamela. The Lee brothers tried their best to track down any clues, but her disappearance remains a mystery. Regardless, Pamela’s legacy and plain love of good soul food still endure through her book and the many fond memories that customers have of her Little Kitchen in Alphabet City.
All month, we’re talking about tastemakers. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan, for having me as a guest host.
As always, we’re taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you Monday!