Tanesha Trippett has lived in West Oak Lane her whole life, but spent her summers as a girl with her mother’s family in Savannah, Georgia, where all women pride themselves on their cooking, writes Michael Klein for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Trippett graduated from Martin Luther King Jr. High School and started building her career in the financial services industry. But after 15 years, she decided to give it all up and follow her dreams.

“When I turned 35, I said, ‘I have to figure out what I need to do by the time I turn 40,’” she said. “So I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to go back to school.”

She subsequently enrolled at The Art Institute of Philadelphia to become a chef. After graduating, she worked for several events companies before enrolling in Wharton School’s small-business program for entrepreneurs.

She started a food truck called Brotherly Grub in 2016 with great success. In 2023, she submitted a bid to take the space of the former local landmark Relish, and won.

Earlier this month, she opened her own establishment, Jacobs Restaurant on the street where it all began.

Read more about Tanesha Trippett and her long journey to launching a new restaurant in West Oak Lane at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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