A Chat With Chef LP Of WE Tv's Hustle & Soul

Premiering Thursday, March 22 at 10:00 p.m. EST, season 2 of WE tv's Hustle & Soul follows chef Lawrence Page (known as chef LP) on his mission to elevate his Brooklyn soul food restaurant, The Pink Tea Cup, while expanding into a new city with the opening of a Miami restaurant.

Page started cooking at just age 11 out of necessity because he "got tired of eating bad food that always felt like it was missing something. Instead of complaining I decided to get in the kitchen and try it myself." However, his path to a professional cooking career wasn't a linear one and he started out working in television and theatre in New York City. After the 55-year-old Pink Tea Cup closed in 2009, Page decided to revive the brand because, "The Pink Teacup was a West Village soul food staple since around 1954 and so many huge artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Diana Ross, Oprah, and many more had frequented the restaurant for fish and grits or fried chicken; I was even a regular there. As a black business owner, I couldn't just sit around and let a place that's been so synonymous with such love for culture disappear.

"At first, I was just experimenting, you know, trying it out." Soon, his childhood curiosity and ambition came flooding back and "It became a full-blown passion where I found myself in the kitchen 16 hours a day. I think it was this organic love for food that came through." After successfully reopening in Brooklyn, Page turned his attention to a brand-new concept and decided to break into a brand-new market: Miami.

In season 2 of Hustle & Soul, viewers get a front row seat as Page gets served a few life lessons along the way, like how "Loyalty is everything and some people don't have it in them," and all the highs and lows of "Going from a 30-seat restaurant to a 300-seat restaurant with three bars and a whole new menu—that's a lot of excitement right there!" Even better, however, is the chance to watch the chef and entrepreneur do what he loves: "Being able to really incorporate techniques and cultures that I've come across the last few years in my menu is really the garnish on the drink."