Our story

Emerald Mills, of Diverse Dining, is the founder and lead visionary behind the Turning Tables initiative. With years of experience working with local restaurants and building cross-cultural and cross-sectional relationships, her inspiration to impact the community is endless. Through her Diverse Dining work Emerald recognized that though people were willing to partake in diverse experiences it did not fully address the resource needs of food related businesses. With anecdotal insight she has become increasingly aware of the echo-system of support, relationships, and training that are vital to a restaurant’s success.

Jervel Williams, a Turning Tables partner, will guide development of education and programming for the Teaching Kitchen by acting as the “voice of the restauranter”. The initial menu at Turning Tables will feature some of Jervel’s mouth watering creations. Jervel’s business, Mister Bar-B-Que, started vending from a hotdog cart on Milwaukee’s Old World Third street nearly 15 years ago. His highly acclaimed BBQ is known to frequently sell out at his vending locations. Jervel's first hand experience in starting a business and his passion for surrounding a new restauranter with support, insights, and guidance, will create the Turning Tables Teaching Kitchen.