Just open, this new eatery and dessert shop in Centerville already has repeat customers

The second day in business, this new Centerville restaurant already had repeat customers.

That’s not surprising considering Krave Eatery & Dessert Shop sold out of its chicken adobo, jasmine rice and cabbage meal twice — at noon and again at 5 p.m. on opening day.

The restaurant at 524 North Houston Lake Blvd. also sold out of its meal options the next two business days before closing for the weekend. The eatery had its soft opening a week ago Tuesday.

The eatery is owned and operated by David and April Brinson whose adult children Rafael Brinson and Khaira Brinson are helping get the new business off the ground.

Living a dream

David Brinson is the senior pastor at Eighth Day Church in Warner Robins, and April Brinson is a civilian employee at Robins Air Force Base. They met while both were active duty in the U.S. Air Force.

“It’s been my lifelong dream,” David Brinson said. “I’ve been cooking since I was probably 7 or 8 years old. Before I could stand over a stove … I stood in a chair and cooked for my older brothers.”

Before joining the military, Brinson was in school studying hospitality management.

“And I figured out that I couldn’t pay for college, because I didn’t have a scholarship, and work, so I decided to go into the military and just always loved cooking; still do love cooking,” he said. “Cooking is a passion. It’s a gift actually.

“So, it’s just been what we’ve always loved to do. We sat down a few years ago and wrote out the plan and it took some time.”

David does most of the cooking. April also does some, including a few Italian dishes.

What’s cooking?

“My palate has been exposed to a lot of different cultures,” he said. “I like to cook just about anything and everything that I like to eat. Now, I don’t like to eat everything …

“But I love to cook a Filipino dish … I love Italian food. We spent five years in Italy. My wife, her hand is better with Italian stuff. I do some pastas like I do baked spaghetti. I love to cook Southern food as far as turkey and dressing, greens. What else? Jamaican food. I love Puerto Rican food. I love Mexican food — just all types of different foods.”

The initial, rotating menu is simple: one to two protein choices, sides, a bread and a few dessert options such as red velvet cupcakes, lemon pound cake and coconut lime pound cake slices and chocolate chip cookies.

They also offer soft drinks and bottled water to drink and plan to add coffee, April said.

“Everything we cook here, we cook at home,” she said. “This is how we eat at home.”

The restaurant’s name is based on what the Brinsons hope their customers will do in response to enjoying a meal or a dessert from their eatery.

“We want people to crave it,” April said. “We want people to return.”

‘Perfection’

Linda Thomas was among the customers who did just that — ordering a meal and a slice of coconut lime pound cake to go the first day the eatery opened and returning the second day for another takeout order of two meals, two slices of coconut lime pound cake and some chocolate chip cookies.

She had invited her son over for dinner that second day and was picking up the meal ahead of time.

“It’s perfection,” Thomas said of the coconut lime pound cake. “You want to take your fork and get every crumb. The flavor is like from heaven.”

Commenters on the restaurant’s Facebook page also rave about the red velvet cupcakes and other food options.

‘Showing the love of God’

But the vision for the eatery is more than about food for the Brinsons.

“This is an extension of the ministry I’ve been called to … I believe in service and we want to serve this community — just showing the love of God through food, through service ... So that’s my hope that people come and enjoy good food and the love and fellowship,” he said.

Initial operating hours are from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. The Brinsons likely will experiment with the menu also.

“We’re just trying to find our way,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to introduce all the things that we love to do. So, you’ll see some changes as we navigate through how to do it and do it with quality.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 2:30 PM.