Meet Racquel Veals | Owner of C’est Si Bon

Well my idea of creating C’est Si Bon came from my cousin Anthony. When I moved to Texas in 2018 my cousin would come over to my apartment and eat and my mothers & I cooking ( she would be back and forward to Baton Rouge) . He would always say “ This Fire Cousin” , and me and my mom would laugh. He told us we should open a food truck or restaurant but I was like nah. He always pushed the issue and would tell us people would buy this food. And as I started getting to know more people I would have pool party’s and would cook and they would be like “this food good,and they don’t have a lot of good food like this out here in Texas”. So in 2020 I got hurt at my job at the post office and would be home cooking and drinking wine and my friends would come visit and eat , and one day that’s what I was doing and the idea dawned on me that I’m give this a shot . So I called my sister and mom and they thought I was joking and laughed at my crazy idea and I like okay watch lol.

So I did all the necessary steps like getting my LLC and ect. So I told my mom I would need her to cook for me because she’s the better cook. I told her I wanted to do a photo shoot and I had this vision in mind that I wanna do and upscale soul-food -seafood look because they don’t have true authentic Louisiana food in Dallas. So I booked this photographer name Brunson who did a amazing job on the photos. During the photo shoot he showed me the edits and I was like they looking amazing , right then and there I knew that this was gonna be something great; I just would have to take the correct steps of marketing to get our name out.

Being in school for marketing kind of helped me sort of I would say . I knew what kind of marketing I needed to do . So I would join pop-up events and put out flyers and give free samples. One day my cousin Anthony sent me this guy off of Instagram @dubbsgrubs . He said you should try to do his pop up event he’s like a foodie guy in Dallas he might help you get recognized more. So I reached out to be in the pop up event and he looked over my Instagram and told me he liked the content and there I was in another pop -up event . While I was doing a pop-up for Dallas Jags I invited him to come try our Seafood Lasagna which is a hit . He did an awesome review on it and told his followers I would be at his event and I gained more followers and clients from that review. My last review came from @Dr.Rose.ilift which led me to more followers to help get my name around Dallas because he has a mixture of followers.

I wouldn’t say things hasn’t been easy but ,it hasn’t been super hard . I take the good with the bad and try to learn from my last mistakes or where I went wrong and should’ve took a different approach. I would say being new to the business it’s always good to be a student. I‘ve meet so many people that I’ve learned from and help me out along they way. Even though I’m not where I wanna be which is eventually opening a restaurant I know as long as I keep pushing and giving my best I’ll make it there . But till I get there I’m enjoying the process of learning on the way.

A lesson l’ve learned is to never rush the process and trust the process ,we all start as nobody’s. As my mother would always tell me “Rome wasn’t built over night” and I always try to remember that and remember someone is always watching and your story might be motivation to someone in your shoes so keep pushing forward with your head held high.

I would like the world to know that my brand is built off of hard work and dedication and we”ll be here for a good time and a long time .

I would say I’m a terrible tour guide to be honest lol, but their are some places that I frequently visit that I’ve grown to love .I’m more of a bar or restaurant person no clubs . My first stop would be Pangea Restaurant. The whole place is a vibe and you get good drinks and food while at the same place that’s rare in Dallas. I would go next to visit RH rooftop they have great drinks and food and it’s a good place to take cool pictures. LoLos chicken and waffles would be next ,I love their shrimp and grits. We can’t forget Ida Claire it’s also a great place for drinks the froze is the best. Drakes Hollywood is a great place, I’ve meet my rep from Ben E Kieth there , that’s a place where you never know who you’ll run into there. I would say we’ll have to stop in Nates Seafood in Addison I’ve met some characters in their but all fun and knowledgeable people . We’ll have to get some Trap Chef, he’s a home based business but those wings are definitely good. The Common Table I love their Saturday Hip Hop brunch. I’ll go to the Hudson House , I always go for the lunch special but recently found out they have great brunch .Ten01uptown is a great vibe too, you can chill down stairs then go up to the penthouse to have a even better time.