The last time the St. Louis American spoke with Cathy and Jerome Jenkins, owners of Cathy’s Kitchen in Ferguson, was in April 2021. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic. And the story focused on how the couple managed to stay so publicly upbeat during a time of public health and economic crisis.
As the virus raged, the Jenkins posted photos of themselves singing and dancing with family and crew, traveling, and hanging out with celebrities and seemingly enjoying life.
“We don’t separate fun from business,” Jerome Jenkins explained then.
The motto remains true. Almost three years since those dire times, the Jenkins’s are still living the highlife. In fact, this interview was conducted as the couple were returning home from Las Angeles. They had just concluded a host of Grammy-related activities with their good friends, singer Melissa Etheridge and her partner Linda.
Cathy’s Kitchen’s Facebook posts featured enviable photos of Etheridge and the couple hobnobbing with celebrities B-Real from Cypress Hill, Jimmy Jam, Eric Benet, singer Jelly Roll (who was nominated for a Grammy), husband and wife duo, Michael and Tanya Trotter (who won their first ever Grammy), and legendary performers, Jon Bon Jovi, Lenny Kravitz, Shania Twain and Paul McCartney just to name a few.
The Jenkins migrated to St. Louis in 1990 from Gary, Indiana. Jerome patented “Bubble Jet Set,” a fabric treatment that allows customers to print permanent color images on a variety of fabrics. The product was a life-changer, for the couple drawing national and international clients. Hewlett Packard and NASA use their products for printers and nonflammable insignia on space suits.
After their kids reached adulthood, Cathy-a self-taught chef-wanted something of her own. This led to the opening of Cathy’s Kitchen in Ferguson in August 2014. After the death of Michael Brown, the restaurant became the gathering place for reporters and TV journalists like CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Other well-known people such as Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Harry Belafonte, Aeneas Williams, and Cornel West also frequented the eatery. An unexpected visit from singer, songwriter and activist, Etheridge has turned into a genuine friendship some nine years later.
This is the third year the Jenkins have been invited to spend time with Melissa and Linda Etheridge before the Grammy’s. The couple’s visit was well-documented on Facebook, showing off Etheridge’s impressive Kansas City Chiefs’ memorabilia, the array of vegan meals their host prepared and the California eateries they frequented.
Emphasizing that “Melissa and Linda are the most “incredibly, insanely down-to-earth, normal people you’ll ever meet,” Cathy recalled how she and Jerome spent their last evening playing “Sorry” and “Scrabble” with the couple until late in the evening.
Cathy said Etheridge wasn’t in the mood to attend the “6-to-7-hour-long” Grammy awards show this year. So, instead, the group attended other related events like the “Primary Wave Pre-Grammy Party” at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills and the tribute to Bad Company & Bon Jovi at the Brentwood Emporium in downtown LA.
“Melissa is a legend so all the other legends like Paul McCartney and Shania Twain just come to her,” Cathy said. “And she introduces us as her ‘best friends’ to everybody.”
Cathy, according to her husband, is more outgoing. Because of her personality and close connection to Etheridge, some celebrities just assume she’s one of them. This was the case when she met Paul McCartney at the Bon Jovi tribute. After smacking the last Beatles arm and shouting his name as he passed, Jerome said McCartney turned and just started chatting with his wife as if they were old friends.
Jerome fondly recalled how Etheridge leaned in and whispered: “Does Cathy know Paul McCartney?”.
Some of Etheridge’s celebrity friends have asked the Jenkins’s if they ever plan to open a restaurant in the LA area. Though flattered, Cathy and Jerome said they are focusing-for the moment-on current opportunities in St. Louis. Next month they will open “Cathy’s Kitchen to go” in Dellwood’s R&R Marketplace. If all goes as planned,Etheridge will visit St. Louis for their grand opening celebration.
And, as St. Louis’ Lambert International Airport works its way to complete its $331 million infrastructure modernization project, talks are underway about opening a Cathy’s Kitchen in the airport.
Cathy said she’s also currently taping PBS’ 2024 season of “Mamma said, Mamma said” which will be filmed at the Grandel Theater. She said she’s looking forward to telling a live audience how her mother-who just turned 81-has influenced her life.
As far as opening a restaurant in LA or anywhere else is concerned, the Jenkins’s said they’re leaving those decisions up to their kids who, for the most part, manage the couple’s enterprises.
“We’re empty nesters,” Cathy stressed. “So, we tell our kids, ‘You know we love each other but we’re trying to find ways to really like each other.’”
In May, the couple will again join Etheridge for a concert in Australia. Their recent trip to California was in line with their effort to relish life and seize opportunities to explore one another.
Asked if they practice a certain life/love philosophy, Jerome said they don’t have any stated goals. He did, however, admit that his New Year’s resolution was to get through the year without one single argument with his wife.
Laughing, Cathy responded: “So far, he’s making it.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.
