Chef Raquel Lenzie started cooking at a very young age often standing on a chair to reach the stove. Through her early childhood culinary learning experiences & working in a family restaurant & other functions, combined with many years of corporate restaurant experience, she was motivated to start RL Restaurant Group in 2014. Her company is comprised of SLIDE cafe serving specialty sliders, gourmet sides & signature salads & Panoptic Catering a full service catering operation. Previous operations of SMOKE Bistro which served an upscale version of traditional soul food with a barbecue flare, SLIDE food truck & concepts LENZIE’S Restaurant & Bar & The Yellow Door, a unique speakeasy. She has showcased her recipes in live cooking demonstrations on ABC 33/40 Talk of Alabama, WBRC Fox6 Good Day Alabama, Birmingham Home & Southern Women’s Shows. She has been featured in Birmingham’s Wedding, iPush, & Birmingham’s Own Magazine with countless articles from al.com, bhamnow.com, & alabamanewscenter.com. Her delicious “five-cheese baked mac & cheese” recipe won Panoptic 1st Place - “Best of Magic City Mac” at the 2018 Birmingham Magic City Mac + Cheese Festival. Recently, one of her recipes was featured on the Chef Works website. She has been a key representation for the culinary scene being a voice on countless local news stations as well as on the national news Fox & Friends.Chef Raquel is a regular participant in the Birmingham Bridal Lux Wedding Show, Greater Birmingham March of Dimes Signature Chef's Auction, Taste of Birmingham, Shelby County, and Hoover, and she won “Best Bite” at the 2019 Taste of Pelham. She was selected as a 2019 VIP Chocolatier Chef for the Disability Rights & Resource’s Annual Magic City Chocolate Challenge, the food & beverage vendor for the Inaugural Le Diner en Blanc International-Birmingham & was also a judge for Birmingham’s first nationally recognized Culinary Fight Club-Street Food Showdown. She was also highlighted as a Birmingham Business Journal’s 2021 Top 40 Under 40. More recently, Chef Raquel was named a finalist and appeared in three primetime shows on the Food Network & the Cooking Channel and a keynote speaker for Jack & Jill of America, Inc. 2022 Southeastern Region Teen Leadership Conference. Additionally, Chef Raquel is a culinary mentor for Girls Incorporated of Central AL, a member of the Birmingham Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, Lawson State Community College Culinary Advisory Board and President of the Birmingham Chapter of the American Culinary Federation.