Tameisha Martin was tired of watching dreams go to the grave, she shared.
“Ever since I could remember, my mother and my grandmother talked about wanting to open their own restaurant. They loved cooking for church and community events. … Unfortunately, my grandmother is gone now, so she didn’t get to see this dream come to life. But my mother is still here, and every day we are grateful that the doors opened for us,” said Martin, who co-founded Love is Key alongside her husband, Cameron.
Love is Key
The Martins’ waffle concept restaurant, Love is Key, celebrated its grand opening in August on the first floor of the Wonder Shops and Flats development on 30th and Troost. Love is Key specializes in waffle sandwiches and cake waffles, a family recipe passed down from Martin’s mother, Tangela Winters, and grandmother, Daisy Henderson.
“We put a lot of thought into our menu,” Martin noted. “From using my mother and grandmother’s recipes for the dishes and desserts, to using local vendors and local food, our food quality is phenomenal. We are very conscious about the seasoning we use, and we even have our own in-house, caramelized syrup that no one is using. It is our specialized ingredient.”
Click here to check out the menu at Love is Key.
Humble beginnings
Love is Key originally began as a dessert catering company in 2018.
Love is Key
“My mother has been a nurse all her life, but she got sick and stopped working,” Martin recalled. “One day I came home, and she had the entire counter lined up with caramel cake. I was like, ‘Who’s going to eat all of this cake?’ and she said that they were orders. That’s when I knew we were going to turn this into a business.”
The Martins and her mother began booking weddings, community events and grand openings, she said. The business was steadily scaling when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
After a short hiatus, a small pop-up space in the parking lot of Ruby Jeans Kitchen and Juicery, catty-corner to Wonder Shops and Flats, became available and Love is Key launched its pilot program in Fall 2020.
“For about a year, we opened up Tuesday through Saturday to see if we could sustain a physical location,” Martin said. “We broke even, which is really unheard of for restaurants. Most restaurants don’t make a profit for three to five years, so that gave us the confidence to go for it. We are believers in Christ and God, so we prayed about this. And we’ve been blessed.”
Tameisha Martin, Love is Key
Love is Key
When Martin got the call that a storefront right across from her pop-up shop opened up in the Wonder Shops and Flats — the former Soulcentricitea location — she immediately knew that she wanted to be a part of it, she shared.
“We are all for economic development within our own community,” Martin said. “Having more businesses in this area will create more jobs and lower crime. It also gives people an opportunity to work in their own community versus going outside.”
Love is Key has been a self-funded venture, Martin said, adding that she and her husband are in search of additional funds to keep the business growing.
