Kin Southern Table + Bar

This business profile ran as part of Motif’s Black History Month issue, centering the experiences of Black business owners.

If you’re ever in downtown Providence and looking for comfort food, look no further than Kin Southern Table + Bar, the brainchild of Julia Broome. Broome – a Providence native – has always wanted to be a restaurateur. 

“When I was a kid, I went to Disney, and that inspired me to design some crazy restaurants — one where you had to take a boat to get to your seat!” she shares. 

While you can safely walk to the tables at Kin, Julia brings a lot of her childhood passion to the restaurant. After exploring entrepreneurship at a young age — from a lemonade stand to selling cookies in college – Broome figured she’d open a restaurant when she retired. Then, COVID-19 struck. Broome was laid off from her job traveling to trade shows, and began to think about moving up her plans for a restaurant. 

“I missed my friends and family, and the fun we had at summer barbecues,” she says. This informed her restaurant concept, with which Broome strives to recreate that family feeling while digging into baked mac ‘n cheese and shrimp po’boys. 

“I’ve been laid off once or twice before,” Broome shares humbly. “You can either use the time to be productive, or you can get down on yourself. So I wanted to create a space where all backgrounds could find a safe place and enjoy the people you want to be around and have some good food.” 

While she laments the paperwork involved with being a business owner, Broome expresses that as a black woman, business ownership is liberating: “Having ownership of my career, or my destiny is extremely important. I hope that I can be an example to others if they are interested in pursuing this path, or whatever path they want to choose.” 

“I’ve been dreaming of this since I was little,” Broome shares. “You start with writing words down on paper, and it can transform into four walls: a space where people can enjoy and be together.” 

As we close, Broome brings to our attention that Kin has quite a bit coming up, including taking reservations for Valentine’s Day, Kin’s one-year anniversary on March 30th, and their second-annual Juneteenth block party.

Kin Southern Table + Bar, 71 Washington St, PVD, kinpvd.com