LA Playa Soul Kitchen Brings New Soul to Port Hueneme

Tradition is important to Liz Garcia Bynum and Akeem Bynum. So important that it’s the soul of their cooking. That’s what LA Playa Soul Kitchen brings to Port Hueneme: a marriage of the couple’s backgrounds presented in a menu of unique treats.

“We’re high school sweethearts from Hueneme High School,” Liz says. “We met while in student government together. We’ve been together for 19 years.”

Akeem spent his early years moving around with his family because his stepfather was a U.S. Marine. He spent time on the East Coast in Portsmouth, Virginia, right off of the Chesapeake Bay; also in Hawaii, in San Diego and finally in Port Hueneme.

Liz’s family comes from the Guanajuato state in central Mexico. She says her mother, Elia Cabrera, is a natural cook, who insists on overseeing most of the special spice mixtures used at LA Playa Soul Kitchen. “Mom does the Mexican spices; Akeem makes his own ocho spice for the Southern-spiced dishes. It’s a wonderful tag team,” she says.

“She was always making things from scratch every day growing up. She was the second-oldest daughter in a family of 11. They all had to do something and her job was cooking for the whole family. She has a strong passion for it,” says Liz, adding that fortunately cooking was something her mother embraced. “[At the restaurant] we use a lot of spices. We use a lot of dried chiles as well. One of the recipes uses many different dried pepper chiles—chiles pasilla, ancho chiles and more. Arbol is our most-used dried spicy chile as it gives great smokey heat to dishes.

We make lots of slow-braised meats like pulled pork and beef.”

The meats are among the specials offered at LA Playa Soul Kitchen, as the Bynums expand the current menu, which also offers vegan options.

Akeem worked hard to perfect the biscuits they sell as-is or in breakfast sandwiches.

“I wanted to do a Southern staple,” says Akeem of his homemade biscuits. “They are a little bit difficult to perfect. It’s a labor of love that’s easy to do, and it’s something easy to mess up. If biscuits are done well, they can be a great starting point for a restaurant.”

The menu not only offers a description of each dish, but also the source for local ingredients. Liz explained that she and Akeem have a deep appreciation for farmers and want to make sure their menu gives them credit for their work.

“My parents, when they came from Mexico, worked the strawberry and cabbage farms,” Liz says. “I saw how valuable an impact agriculture has. To work in the fields year-round is a labor of love. I remember I helped Dad take off his boots when they got muddy in the rain. But they made sure their kids went to college. My sister going to medical school means a lot to our family. It means that it can happen here.”

Akeem brings his experience in restaurants and hospitality to the restaurant, and Liz works for the ACLU. She is able to work from home and can take meetings at the restaurant.