Richmond magazine - March 2024

They experienced the fearsome roar of the Princeton’s guns. Spectators received co on balls to plug their ears and were told to open their mouths prior to the firings to relieve pressure on their eardrums.

As the ship neared Mount Vernon, Secretary of the Navy Thomas Walker Gilmer, a former Virginia governor and congressman (the Carver neighborhood street is named for him) appointed to his post a mere 10 days earlier, couldn’t resist honoring George Washington with a another display of the Princeton’s mighty Peacemaker.

Stockton apparently first received word from an assistant about giving the Peacemaker another blast and demurred, but when told the directive came from Gilmer, he agreed. Arrangements were made. Most of the ladies aboard were downstairs for Champagne toasts and merriment, but a considerable number gathered on deck to witness the big bang boom.

Stockton pulled the lanyard.

The Peacemaker’s breech exploded. Hot metal shrapnel sliced through

onlookers. The blast’s casualties included Gilmer; Secretary of State Abel Upshur; Capt. Beverly Kennon, chief of the Navy’s construction office; Tyler’s enslaved valet, Henry Armistead; Maryland official Virgil Maxcy; and New York lawyer and politician David Gardiner. Some 20 others sustained injuries.

Tyler was below with the ladies and engaging in Champagne and conversation with Gardiner’s daughter Julia. Her mother had already scuttled possible marriage arrangements between the two due to their 30-year age difference. Four months a er the Princeton mishap, however, the 54-year-old widower president would marry the 24-year-old.

The great vessel rocked with the impact of the explosion. Tyler received a summons to hurry above. The president viewed the ghastly a ermath of dismemberment and blood and wept.

Stockton, burned on the face and his hair singed off, stood otherwise unharmed but in shock. He cried out through tears, “My God! Would that I were dead, too!”

Subsequent inquiries found faults in

the gun’s construction and absolved Stockton. “In true Washington tradition,” naval historian Ann Blackman observes, “no one was held responsible and nobody lost his job.”

Stockton’s career continued through the Mexican-American War, during which he commanded the Pacific Fleet. He teamed up with John C. Fremont and, without orders, they took California. Stockton became the territory’s military governor (Stockton, California, is named for him).

As a U.S. senator from New Jersey, he advocated for U.S. support of Indigenous people rising up against colonialist powers, and he was a participant in the unsuccessful 1861 conference in Washington to forestall the impending Civil War. Stockton’s behavior mirrored the tenor of the times; he threatened to thrash one of the representatives.

Stockton se led into respected retirement at Morven, the family’s Princeton estate, though the old sailor answered the call one last time to ward off an armed fight between students and Princeton laborers. He died on Oct. 7, 1866. R

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Several government o cials were killed on Feb. 28, 1844, aboard the USS Princeton, commanded by Stockton.

Powerful Persistence

A ‘World’s Strongest Woman’ winner finds her own mental toughness

By Claire Fortier

Mentally, she was in the zone. Physically, few could beat her. 2022 was her year.

“I was very proud of what I was pu ing out there,” says Nancy Johnson, a 27-year-old Richmond native and administrative assistant at the Richmond Police Athletic League.

en she heard the crack.

Down she went, with a 620-pound Volkswagen Beetle frame strapped to her shoulders. at snap ended Johnson’s four-year quest to become the world’s strongest woman in her weight class at the 2022 O cial Strongman Games in Daytona Beach, Florida.

While men have engaged in feats of strength arguably forever, Strongman competitions only entered the mainstream in the late ʼ70s, when CBS started airing the show “World’s Strongest Man.” It took until 2001 before the International Federation of Strength Athletes crowned the first World’s Strongest Woman, Jill Mills.

ese competitions pit athletes against each other in displays of raw functional strength such as li ing rocks, barrels, refrigerators and, as in Johnson’s case, walking a 620-pound car frame for 50 feet.

“I knew in that second something was wrong, but I didn’t know what was wrong,” she says.

e snap she felt was a break of the tibia and fibula in her right leg. Before that moment, she had been leading the competition, ahead by an unheard-of 10 points. She’d won the Viking press by li ing a 185-pound

platform 11 times; the deadli , where she li ed 415 pounds 11 times; and the sandbag-to-shoulder ladder, where she had to li increasingly heavier sandbags to her shoulder. She placed third in the farmer’s walk, where she carried a 275-pound weight in each hand.

“I knew in that moment my shot at winning the title was over,” Johnson says. “I collapsed under the car and started screaming and crying. Everyone thought I was in this insane pain. Lucky for me, I was in shock physically. I couldn’t feel anything, but my heart was just breaking out of my chest.”

at injury, which required emergency surgery, should have ended her Strongman career. “I was told by almost every orthopedist and physical therapist that I worked with to give up the sport. They expected me to never run, walk or jump again; at least not the way I wanted to,” she says.

But Johnson couldn’t leave the sport that she is “insanely obsessed with,” as she says.

Growing up in Richmond, she was an athlete and fostered a competitive spirit. It wasn’t until a er her deployment in the Marines that a fellow cohort and future coach, Greg Popejoy, introduced her to Strongman.

“Strongman was that misfit sport that really fit me,” she says. “In the military, you are supposed to be able to go at a moment’s notice. Strongman is the same mindset.” at began a four-year e ort to compete on a national level. “She’s pre y addicted,” Popejoy says. “Strongman events are very hard because you are going to li things most humans can’t — the log press, car carry [and] atlas stones. You can’t just lift weights as heavy as you can and compete. You have to train athletically.”

But with the championship in sight, Johnson's injury landed her in a hospital bed instead of the podium. “You can either allow [setbacks] to swallow you whole or you can choose how you want to use it to continue your life,” she says.

With the support of her father, her coach and her boyfriend — Tyler Papa, a former powerlifter — she was determined to try again. “Physically, I knew Nancy would recover,” Popejoy says. “Obviously, a broken leg times two — both a fib and a tib — that’s a serious setback. I was more concerned about the mental aspect of coming back from an injury like that. e hardest part was ge ing

FITNESS

Nancy Johnson competing in the 2023 Official Strongman Games

Double Header

While a cuppa may be the draw, these shops demand a bite, too

BY STEPHANIE GANZ

BUNA KURS | Timatim Fit Fit

If you love bread-and-salad combinations like panzanella or fattoush, add Buna Kurs’ timatim fit fit to your list of must-tries. You’ll find fresh tomatoes, onions and peppers mixed with the Ethiopian co ee shop’s injera, a spongy flatbread made in-house using te flour. The salad is dressed in a mixture of berbere paste with a hint of vinaigrette, leading to a light, refreshing pick-me-up that makes a mighty fine light lunch or leveled-up side dish.

SURROUNDING COUNTIES | Kolaches

West End quick-stop co ee shop

Surrounding Counties fills a void with kolaches, a stu ed pastry of Czech origins with a cult-following in Texas, wherever Czech communities thrive, and right here in Richmond. SC bakes breakfast favorites such as egg and cheese with maple-Sriracha glazed sausage or Hatch green chile, as well as brunchy mashups including a sausage gravy-filled and Cuban sandwich-inspired.

PERK! | Ricotta Scone

Ricotta makes Perk!’s scones remarkably flu y, but the sweet orange glaze makes them irresistible. For $2.50 each, the move is to get one to enjoy on the spot with your iced Perkolater — espresso, cold brew, sweetened condensed milk, maple syrup and milk — and one to share with a friend, or, let’s be real, save for later.

SUGAR & TWINE | Biscuit

Jam and biscuits groove harmoniously at Sugar & Twine. Load up on their craggy handmade biscuits dotted with hearty dollops of sweet-yet-sophisticated blackberry jam. The combination is unassailable and ideal for noshing with an Americano. Looking for something heftier? Order a bacon, egg and cheese on a cheddar biscuit.

Stone Winslett

gazes around the Richmond Ballet’s sun-brightened boardroom and considers the promotions for past shows. “You sit in this room and see the posters from London, New York and China, and I’m just so lucky, so blessed, to be plunked down in this place where there was a community of, at that point, pre y much board [member] ladies who had a passion.”

Winslett speaks quickly and with enthusiasm, her words tinged with the soothing accent of her Columbia, South Carolina, upbringing and accompanied by expressive gestures that connote her dance background. “They wanted to do something, and we clicked, and [we formed] the partnership with this community, bringing the businessmen, and bringing in the big donors, and now bringing in the alums who were in the school or in the company.”

The memories come fast: assuming direction of a balky “Nutcracker” at the Mosque Auditorium (now the Altria Theater) in 1980 at the age of 21. The company receiving official designation as the State Ballet of Virginia in 1990. The ballet’s 2005 debut at the Joyce Theater in New York and hearing people ask, “Who are these guys? How have we not heard of these guys before?” Performing at London’s Royal Opera House in 2012 and making a four-city tour of China in 2015. The challenges of COVID-19.

Now, a er 44 years — a remarkable

achievement for any leader — Winsle is stepping down from her position as artistic director of the Richmond Ballet and turning leadership over to her handpicked successor, Ma Cong. She takes a deep breath. “Everything mushroomed,” she says. “When you look back at an era, you don’t know when it started until it ends.”

THE PHONE IN THE HALL

From 1957 to 1975, local private dance studios sent their best students to the Ballet Impromptu (later the Richmond Ballet) under the artistic direction of interior designer and theater impresario Robert Watkins. It was a tradition. “We did the best we could with the dancers we had,” recalled longtime board member Betsy Dale Gayle in 2003.

When Catherine R. “Ki y” Claiborne joined the board in 1965, she sought to bring a sense of professionalism to the organization. With the financial support of William and Margaret Massey, the ballet founded its school, initially at First and Main streets, a location it quickly outgrew, and then at Lombardy and Broad streets.

About the time of the move to Lombardy and Broad, Gayle’s niece, who was a ending Smith College, told her about a “wonderful, brilliant” fellow student who was interested in dance.

On April 21, 1980, the hall phone in

helped save us.”

Audiences came, also wearing masks, and left the performances in tears of gratitude. She received notes a erward, expressing what the performances meant to patrons as expressions of hope.

Today they’re showing their regard for the ballet by returning, and, along with new patrons, filling the seats.

‘WINDOWS’ ON CREATION

Winslett enrolled in Smith College’s dance program because it emphasized ballet. There she encountered an important influence on her art and life, dance history professor Rosalind de Mille, related by marriage to the renowned dance figure Agnes de Mille, and she danced every day under the instruction of artists-in-residence Karen Williamson and Gemze de Leppe.

She also maintained a full, personally designed academic course load: music history, studio art, and technical theater and drama. It was the springboard for her “Windows” piece, first performed at Smith in three parts in 1980 (a fourth section was added for the Richmond Ballet’s 1999 Millennium series), which traces several periods of dance history with corresponding dance styles and costumes.

Winslett’s knees began giving her trouble, and she faced the difficult reality that she wasn’t destined to dance six hours a day. As graduation neared, she applied to the American Ballet Theatre and York University in Canada for graduate work in dance history and criticism.

And then that phone rang.

RAISING THE BARRE

A er she moved to Richmond, the ballet grew, a staff developed, and Winslett, accustomed to directing almost every aspect of the company’s professional existence, learned to delegate. She married a orney Donald Irwin, who in his pre-law life was a cantor at the Washington National Cathedral, singing for eight services a week. They have four children.

“I started the professional company in 1984, and 10 years into the mission, the community had stepped up in incredible ways to support a professional dance company in the commonwealth of Virginia,” Winsle says.

She wanted the ballet to give back while also casting a wider net for training dancers, so in 1994, the organization started the Minds In Motion program. Former dancer Brett Bonda served as its artistic and administrative coordinator for 16 years and today is the ballet’s managing director.

Winsle describes Minds In Motion as a way to bring ballet and dance to children who are from “uninclined families” — those for whom ballet isn’t part of their culture or sphere of interests. Not every youngster who experiences dance will want to continue, but they won’t have a chance unless they are introduced. Minds In Motion started in two elementary schools and pre-pandemic had grown to 25; it dropped to 16 but is climbing back. In 2010, the program established a residency in Israel with partnerships for young Jewish and Arab students.

SUCCESSION

In 2000, the Richmond Ballet moved from Broad and Lombardy to its current location, a repurposed industrial site at 407 E. Canal St., enabling expansion that benefited audiences, patrons, dance students and the organization itself. “It’s so funny, like they used to say, ‘We’re Very Richmond,’ because we still call this ‘The New Building,’” Winsle says. “And we’ve been here since 2000!” She pauses, dabbing her brow. “Twenty-four years! I don’t know where all that time went.”

After the move, Winslett began considering the question of succession. “We’d formed a staff that was competent, passionate and energetic enough, and that was a huge relief,” she reflects. With that structure in place, the ballet could go on without her if needed.

She knew that members of the company had moved to Richmond from

far-flung locations — South Africa, New Zealand, California — to work for the ballet. And, because she had been essentially the ballet’s first employee, she had hired everyone, or someone she’d hired had hired them. “I take their livelihoods — artistically, professionally, financially — very, very seriously,” she says. “And I also take the responsibility that the community has entrusted me in that direction very seriously. So, I started looking at the board, we got to thinking about it, and they said, ‘Well, you can’t leave until you find somebody.’”

Winslett didn’t want to leave suddenly, and, if something unforeseen should occur, she did want to have a capable person in the wings who could take over. And she didn’t want that individual walking into the situation like she did with her first unfortunate “Nutcracker.” She knew that finding the right person was the first challenge. However, she had seen enough founders of companies take their last bows only for incapable hands to inherit their work to know that artistic leadership can be idiosyncratic, and transitions require a choreography of their own.

BEGINNING ANEW

In the summer of 2008, Ma Cong was one of four choreographers in a showcase event in California. (In China, surnames are listed first, so he will be referred to as Ma.) Dancers from across the country were selected to participate, two of whom came from Richmond: Valerie Tellmann and Lauren Fagone. “Lauren was in my piece, and Valerie watched on the side,” Ma says. They asked if he’d ever met Winsle ; he had not. Back in Richmond, Fagone and Tellmann told her about Ma’s approach and style. “And that’s how Stoner heard of me,” he says with a smile. “It’s been 14 years since we met and I began my association with the company, so I’m not like a stranger coming out of nowhere.”

Ma had begun dancing at age 10 when he, and thousands of other

Summer and Day Camps

A sampling of camps in and around Virginia

* = Day camp or day-camp option o ered

To see an extended version of this list, visit richmondmag.com/camps.

*Brilliant Summer at St. Catherine’s Coed o erings include Young Explorers for age 4 to rising first graders, Exploration camps for second through 12th graders and Sports camps for first through 12th graders.2024 info on website. 6001 Grove Ave., 804-888-7401, orst.catherines.org/ summer.

*Camp Blue Sky at LeafSpring Schools Hosts di erent themed weeks throughout the summer. Pick your weeks or register for a whole summer of fun. Open to kids ages 5-13 and o ers visual arts, sports, swimming, field trips and more. Five locations (The Boulders, Charter Colony, Hanover, Three Chopt and Wyndham),4551 Cox Road, Suite 310, Glen Allen (corporate o ce), 804-747-5900,leafspringschool.com/programs.

*Camp Ganim Day camp for ages 2-5. O ers opportunities to interact with nature, plus swimming, music and art. 5403 Monument Ave., 804-285-6500 orweinsteinjcc.org.

*Camp Hilbert From morning flagpole assembly to canoeing on beautiful Lake Rosalie, campers (grades K-8) enjoy a range of activities. 2240 Maidens Road, Goochland, 804-545-8612 or weinsteinjcc.org.

*Chesterfield County Parks and Recreation Camps focused on nature, history, outdoor adventure, therapeutic recreation and traditional camps for ages 5-15. 804-748-1623 orchesterfield.gov/ parks.

*Collegiate Summer Quest More than 200 camps, from sports to academic enrichment, for 4-yearolds to adults. June 10 to Aug. 16. Info on website. 103 N. Mooreland Road, 804-665-1750 or collegiate-va.org.

*Cub Scout Day Camp For Cub Scouts and their siblings in grades one through five. Activities include archery, fishing and more.Multiple locations in the Richmond-Petersburg area. 804355-4306 orhovc.org

*Hanover County Parks and Recreation Camps for elementary- and middle-school-age children. 804-365-7150 or hanovercounty.gov/149/parks-recreation.

*Henrico County Recreation and Parks Programs including performing arts, visual arts, nature and sports camps. 804-501-7275 or henrico.us/rec

*Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Programs including sports, performance and visual arts, nature and general camp fun. 804-646-5733 orrva.gov/parksrecreation

*St. Christopher’s Summer Saints Program A variety of half-day and full-day specialty, athletic, academic and day camps for boys and girls ages 4-18.June 10-Aug. 9. 711 St. Christopher’s Road, 804-282-3185, ext. 2389, orstchristophers.com/ school-life/summer-saints.

*St. Margaret’s School Summer on the River Camp Campers enjoy the science and poetry of the river. Four camps, June 24, July 8, July 15 and July 22. 444 S. Water Lane, Tappahannock, 804443-3357 or sms.org/camps.

*Specialty Camps For grades K-8, these include sports, art, science and leadership. 5403 Monument Ave., 804-285-6500 orweinsteinjcc.org.

* e Steward Summer Experience More than 100 camps for grades JK-12, including academics, arts, innovation and sports. 40th anniversary. Full-day or half-day options. 11600 Gayton Road, 804-740-3394 orstewardschool.org/summer.

*Trinity Summer Discovery Program Weekly day camps in sports, music, art and academic enrichment (grades 3-12). 3850 Pittaway Drive, 804-272-5864 ortrinityes.org/summer.

*YMCA Camp underbird Activities such as music, zip lining, boating and more. The Every Buddy program is available for children with diverse abilities. Ages 8-16. 9300 Shawonodasee Road, Chesterfield,804-748-6714 orymcarichmond. org/locations/camp-thunderbird.

*YMCA of Greater Richmond Branch locations o er full-day camps, specialty and sports camps for ages 2-13. 804-649-9622 orymcarichmond. org/camp.

RELIGIOUS

*Camp Hanover Day and overnight sessions for elementary, middle and high school youth with a Christian focus. 3163 ParsleysMill Road, Mechanicsville, 804-779-2811 or camphanover.org.

*CharacterWorks Day camps in musical theater for ages 6-18. Programs o er lessons in theater production, performance and more. 2216 Perl Road,804-306-9159 orcworkstheater.org

Oak Hill Christian Camp A fun, safe experience for campers from kindergarten to college. 8451 Oak Hill Camp Road,Mechanicsville, 804-779-3050 oroakhillcamp.org.

Westview on the James Methodist overnight summer camps for ages 7-15 and Adventure Camp programs for ages 14-16. 1231 West View Road, Goochland, 804-457-4210 orwestviewonthejames.org.

SPECIAL INTERESTS

*ArtHaus Summer Camps [Tentative] Ages 4-16. Explore clay, paint, mixed media and more. 1811 Huguenot Road, Suite 303, Midlothian, 804-8974278 orarthausrichmond.com.

*ArtVenture Summer Camp Young people make art with some of Richmond’s most talented artists. Visual Arts Center of Richmond classes for ages 5-14. 1812 W. Main St., 804-353-0094 or visarts.org.

*Aspire Dance Academy Fun daytime dance camps, no experience necessary. Programming includesPrincess andYoung Knights Week for ages 3-5,LEAP! Dance Camp for ages 5-7 and #StarInTheMaking for ages 8-11. Forexperienced dancers ages 10-and-up, there’sBallet Boot Camp and Dance Focus Weeks.Evening classes available. 1903 Manakin Road, Manakin Sabot, 804-938-3243 or aspiretodance.com.

*Bella Ballerina Chesterfield Storybook and fairytale-themed dance classes for ages 3-8. June 3 to Aug. 16. See website for details. 13924 Hull Street Road N., Midlothian, 804-601-6993 or bellaballerinachesterfield.com

*Camp Half-Blood At this camp for grades 2-8, kids

explore the myths of di erent cultures around the globe. From the story of Zeus to tales of Eastern deities, children are transported to a world of imagination. June 24 to July 19 in Forest Hill Park. 929-397-9393ormythikcamps.com/ camp-half-blood.

* e Carmel School Summer programs for pre-K through middle school students. Session topics include reading comprehension, STEAM-related instruction and art. 9020 Jericho Road, Ruther Glen, 804-448-3288 orthecarmelschool.org.

*Chesterfield Historical Society of VirginiaSummer Camps Archaeology Camp for ages 8-14 at Historic Trinity Church, Heritage Crafts and Games Camp for ages 8-14 and Historic Crafts and Trades Camp for children ages 8-14. Castlewood,1011 Iron Bridge Road, Chesterfield, 804-751-4946 or chesterfieldhistory.com.

*Chess RVA Chess Camp Chess RVA teaches your child how to play chess and become a better player. Playing chess helps kids think more clearly and improves math and reading skills.Elementary and middle school-aged kids. Specifics on website. 11600 Gayton Road,804-464-1628 or chessrva.com.

*Club SciKidz/Tech Scientific STEM-related camps in science and technology and the arts for pre-K through eighth graders. June 10-Aug. 2. Specifics on website. Locations in Chesterfield and Henrico, 804-548-4787 orclubscikidzrva.com.

*CodeVA’s Eureka Workshop O ers arts-integrated summer camps, a robotics team and other outof-school programs. 300 E. Broad St., 804-7279817 orcodevirginia.org.

*Cri er Camp Ages 6-13 who love animals will find many programs to choose from at the Richmond SPCA. 2519 Hermitage Road, 804-521-1327 orrichmondspca.org/camp.

*CSz Comedy Camps for Kidz Day camps on improvisation and collaboration, basic acting, and sketches for rising second to 12th graders. 8906H W. Broad St., 804-266-9377 orcszrichmond. com/comedy-camps.

* e Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen Summer camps and art programs allow children’s curiosity to flourish as they create art in a variety of media. Summer and private classes are also available. 2880 Mountain Road, 804-261-2787 orartsglenallen.com.

*Encore Studio Instruction in ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hopand acro, among other activities. Ages 3-18. Weeklong camps, eight-week instructional sessions and weekly workshops. 15584 Westchester Commons Way, 804-794-2646 orencorestudio.com

*GreenSpring Summer Music Institutes Instruction in a variety of instruments for ages 8-18 at all skill levels. July 15-19 and July 22-26. 4101 Grove Ave., 804-353-7001 or greenspringmusic.org/summer.

*Guardian Christian Academy Weekly themes include sports, outdoor adventures and academics. 6851 Courthouse Road, 804-7153210 orgcakids.com.

*Kids’ and Teens’Camps at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Cross-cultural learning, fun and creative projects. Five-day camps are o ered weekly for ages 5-17.Dates forthcoming. 200 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., 804-340-1405 orvmfa.museum.

*Knights of Summer Blessed Sacrament Huguenot Catholic School summer camps for age 3 through fifth grade include STEAM skills, crafts, sports, cooking and more. 2501 Academy Road, Powhatan, 804-598-4211 orbshknights.org.

*Latin Ballet of Virginia Arts in Education Summer Day Camp helps students connect dance forms to language and culture. Full day and half-day camps. July 31-Aug. 4. The Dominion

store shelves, is Bombay Chips, originally created to merge her taste and that of her American husband.

“He has a fairly bland flavor palate, and I was like, ‘I’m going to fix that,’ so I was making this spice blend at home to put on food just for me because I was homesick,” she says. “I thought, how do I introduce him to this culture? What’s a so introduction?”

e answer: potato chips tossed in a 26-ingredient spice blend of everything from garam masala to fenugreek. “ at’s how the Bombay chip was born,” she says.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wingfield introduced an online ordering platform, Keya & Co., selling modern Indian meals and desserts for pickup and delivery. With each order, she also tossed in a bag of Bombay Chips. Soon after, her

phone was buzzing with calls from curious customers.

“People started calling to order chips, and I’m like, ‘What chips?’ I was so confused,” she recalls. “I feel like overnight I learned how to make a [packaged] product, then word got out and retailers started calling me.”

e chips soon landed on local shelves at Ellwood ompson’s, Barrel ief, Perk!, Fine Creek Provisions and beyond, where they’ve been consistently selling out since.

“All of that was proof to go forward with this company. We’re at a point where we need to launch 2.0,” Wingfield says.

e next products to hit the market will be the ranch- and turmeric-tinged Golden Chips, followed by Black Salt Chips (India is a top producer of black salt), an umami-packed offering that Wingfield calls “the everyday chip.”

e Daksh Foods mascot is inspired by Annapurna, the Indian goddess of food and nourishment, with the logo and branding designed by Wingfield’s brother.

e packaging tells the subtle story of her journey. On each bag is an image of Daksh’s footprint, along with the number 5, which denotes the day he was born (Feb. 5) and the number of people in Wingfield’s family; 55 is also how many days he lived.

“I feel like my consumers, my people, they deserve the most authentic version of me, and it comes with all the good and the bad and the happy and the sad, and I’ll always have that honesty,” Wingfield says. “I’m constantly always keeping up with my two cultures, and because we’re a multicultural brand, it’s as important for me to be as authentic to my flavor profile and story as I can be.” R

Wing eld moved to Richmond in 2005. Daksh Foods re ects her roots — India-born and Virginia-trained.

JULIANNE TRIPP HILLIAN