Sylvia Woods
Encyclopedia
Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem
Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem is a soul food restaurant in New York City. It was founded in 1962 by Sylvia Woods. It has since expanded to a much larger space at 328 Lenox Avenue , and an adjacent building...
in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
on Lenox Avenue
Lenox Avenue (Manhattan)
Lenox Avenue / Malcolm X Boulevard is the primary north-south route through Harlem in the upper portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. This two-way street runs from Farmers' Gate at Central Park North to 147th Street. It is also considered the heartbeat of Harlem by Langston Hughes in...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, NY. The soul food
Soul food
Soul food cuisine consists of a selection of foods traditional in the cuisine of African Americans. It is closely related to the cuisine of the Southern United States...
eatery is a popular gathering place not far from the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
.
Sylvia was born to Julia and Van Pressley in Hemingway, South Carolina
Hemingway, South Carolina
Hemingway is a town in Williamsburg County, South Carolina. The population was 573 at the 2000 census.- Historical Sketch :Hemingway was created from a crossroads community named Lamberts in 1911 by Dr. W. C. Hemingway, in an effort to secure a depot for the proposed Seaboard Air Line Railroad,...
. Her father, Van Pressley, died 3 days after she was born from injuries when fighting in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Her mother had moved to New York when she was only three so she could better provide for her family, which left her grandmother to raise her. Woods met her future husband in a bean field when she was 11 years old. Woods got married to her husband Herbert Woods in 1944; they had 4 children together Van, Bedelia, Kenneth, and Crizette Woods. Woods graduated from high school in her hometown Hemingway, South Carolina. Woods trained to become a beautician in New York and also ran a beauty shop in South Carolina. Woods had also worked in a hat factory, as a waitress, and worked at a restaurant called Johnson’s Luncheonette in Harlem form 1954-1962.
Woods then bought her own restaurant in 1962; the restaurant could seat up to 35 people. During the early 1990s the business expanded and now seats up to 450 people and also has a catering business. Organized and started by her son Van in 1992, Sylvia came out with her own line of soul food
Soul food
Soul food cuisine consists of a selection of foods traditional in the cuisine of African Americans. It is closely related to the cuisine of the Southern United States...
products that are sold nationally. Woods products include many of her special sauces, vegetables, spices, syrup, and cornbread and pancake mixes. Woods has 2 famous cook books one is called Sylvia’s Soul Food Cookbook which was published in 1992, and Sylvia’s Family Soul Food Cookbook which was published in 1999 both by William Morrow and Company
William Morrow and Company
William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, and sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981. It was sold along to the News Corporation in 1999...
. The restaurant remains owned and operated by the Woods family. In August 2011, they will be celebrating 50 years in Harlem.