By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT — For Jamawn Woods, healthy soul food is not an oxymoron — it's a business model.
Woods, 34, just won the "America's Next Great Restaurant" reality TV competition with his fresh, Southern-inspired concept called Soul Daddy. He was in town Friday to launch Soul Daddy in the South Street Seaport, one of three outposts that opened across the country this week.
"This is a dream come true," Woods said as he took a moment away from greeting fans during lunchtime on Friday. "It's a wild thing, but I'm loving it."
The Soul Daddy at 189 Front St. offers an affordable fast-casual menu that tops out at the country style ribs meal for $11.95, which includes two sides and either a whole wheat biscuit or a cornbread waffle. The sizable pulled-pork sandwich is just $4.95.
"We couldn't wait to try it," said Ruth Blattberg, 49, who came into the city from Long Island Friday after avidly following the reality show.
Blattberg, originally from Florida, said she was rooting for Woods to win because she wanted to try the food that reminded her of her childhood. She proclaimed the creamy cheese grits "amazing."
Woods grew up in Detroit and planned to devote his life to professional football. But after a stint playing for the Pori Bears in Finland, he turned his attention to cooking, which he had enjoyed since learning from his father as a teenager. He then opened Woods Wings and Waffles out of his home.
"Seeing the reaction of customers felt as good as scoring a touchdown," Woods said. "And I didn't have to beat anyone up at all."
On "America's Next Great Restaurant," Woods said his biggest challenge was rejiggering his family recipes to meet the healthy standards set by the judges: chefs Bobby Flay, Curtis Stone and Lorena Garcia and Chipotle founder, Steve Ells.
At Soul Daddy on Friday, not a single dish was fried. Woods pointed to his green bean salad and said that before the competition, he probably would have cooked the beans in bacon grease and added chopped bacon and ham. Now, the dish is vegetarian and highlights the fresh flavor of the green beans without loading them down with fat.
"It's about how you cook things and the ingredients you use," Woods said. "You can't please everybody, but I think this will be a success because it's something new."
In addition to Woods' passion, it was his innovative take on soul food that convinced Garcia to name him the winner.
"People think of soul food as a heavy, intense meal you couldn’t have every day," Garcia said while sampling the dishes in the Seaport location Friday. "But this is a way to bring this very American food to everyone."
Woods has big ambitions for Soul Daddy and hopes to eventually open more than 1,000 locations. On Friday, he could barely get out a sentence detailing his plans without being interrupted by fans, who asked to take a picture with him.
Woods complied good-naturedly, answering their questions and grinning for the camera.
"It's gonna be huge," he said.
