By Chanda Temple
When Alice Goldsmith was diagnosed with a brain tumor in October 2019, doctors told her it was inoperable. They gave her two years to live.
Alice refused to take that as the final answer. She did research until she found a doctor in the Bronx with a different outlook. And on March 12, 2020, Alice had a new beginning.
She underwent a successful surgery, but the tumor, which was the size of a quarter, had left her unable to multi-task the way she used to do when she worked for an insurance provider in metro-Birmingham. She wondered what she’d do next.
Since she loved to cook, she left her desk job and decided to work with food. On Oct. 7, 2021, The Lil Bougie Foodie truck was born.
“My friends would tell me that my food was so bougie (another word for fancy),” Alice said. “I’m a presentation person, and I would make these meals with different colored peppers and red or white onions. One friend would say, ‘Hey Bougie!’ And I would say, ‘I’m not bougie. Just a little bougie.’ ”
The name stuck.
For more than three years now, Alice’s food fanshave been eating up her stuffed burgers with the bougie flair.
“I use Angus ground beef. It’s more savory,” she said, adding that since she’s from Jamaica, she incorporates her special seasoning blend into the meat. “Growing up, I would watch my grandmother go get the herbs from the yard. If you use the herbs and spices, it will take the food to different places.”
Alice’s food has taken her to different food truck outings, catering events and TV appearances in and around the metro-Birmingham area. In 2023, she appeared on the cooking stage at the Birmingham Home Show at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex.
When she pulls up, people turn out. But it hasn’t always been that way.
In 2021, Alice first started selling Jerk chicken sandwiches, salads, tacos and fried Oreos. They didn’t take off.
“In my mind, I was thinking I’d offer what I would like to eat. Until one day, someone said, ‘You have to give people what they want. We like food: wings, burgers and fries. Give me a burger like grandma used to make. And I was like, ‘OK, I can do that. ‘ ”
Around Christmas 2021, she revamped her menu and offered fried chicken wings with different sauces, chicken Philly sandwiches, a regular cheeseburger, The Bougie Burger with veggies, a regular burger and loaded fries.
“Everybody was really taken by the hamburger. They really liked the hamburger,” said Alice, who is married and has five children. “I invested a lot of time on it.”
In 2022, she took it up a notch, adding poblano peppers, basil, thyme, parsley, etc. to her burger presentations. She also offered Rasta Pasta, which featured red, green and yellow peppers, her homemade Alfredo sauce and jerk seasoning.
Besides dishing out good food, Alice likes to dish out good vibes. In October, she provided candles for breast cancer survivors. She’s also made shea butter and gives it to children with eczema.
This month, she is hosting Thankful November, offering returning customers a chance to pick up a $10 gift card to Bath and Body Works. She and her truck will be parked outside the 24E fitness center in downtown Birmingham at the Regions-Harbert Plaza on Thursday, Nov. 21 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., selling burgers and providing chances on the gift cards.
“For 2025, I would really like to do more for communities as far as giving back. The food truck, for me, is not just about making money,” she said. “I really feel like the Lord led me down this path for a reason. I would love to empower women and encourage them and let them know we all face things. Just because you go through trials and tribulations does not mean you have to give up.”
“Look at me. I’m a brain tumor survivor. I was told I wasn’t going to make it. I trusted God. I stepped out on faith,” said Alice, 45. “I want (people) to know that when you think that it couldn’t get worse, you just have to hang in there.”
Savor This! For seven years, Alice was on a liquid diet because she had difficulty swallowing. The tumor sitting on her brain stem caused that struggle. Unable to eat the foods she liked to cook, Alice lived through others cooking on The Food Network. That was her happy place.
Today, she has moved up to being able to eat soft foods.
So, what does it mean to Alice, who brings joy to others by cooking foods she cannot even eat? “That is what I’m trying to figure out: What is the purpose of what I’m going through?” she said. “Sometimes, I come in tears when I (don’t get to) eat. But I just try to hold on because I know that there is something way better out there. I’m still thriving, based on what I’m eating. So, I’m doing something good.”
Chanda Temple is an award-winning writer living in Birmingham, Ala. She blogs at http://www.chandatemplewrites.com. If you have a food story idea, email her at chandatemple@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @chandatemple.
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