I was born to eat healthy.  Chef Gregory Brown is almost strange to me.  I had no intentions to become a chef.  I fell into it by necessity.  I’ve always had the vision to own a restaurant that catered to the health conscious crowd, but early on never really know how it would manifest.  I became a vegetarian in the late 90’s…cold turkey…pardon the pun.  I found a cook book on vegetarianism and decided to clean out my refrigerator and cabinets of all animal products and be a vegan.  The only issue was I had never cooked like this before and some of the foods in the book were completely new to me.  I was always taught that you can learn anything and with that mentality, I began to teach myself how to cook.  After several years, a friend called me and asked if I knew any vegetarian chefs.  She was part of a marketing group that was putting on an event in Baltimore called Jazzy Summer Nights; which consisted of a free jazz concert every first Thursday throughout the summer.  She stated that there was a request for vegetarian options for some of the patrons and musicians.  I agreed to ask around however after speaking to a couple of chefs, they felt as though there was not enough of a vegetarian market.  As I called her back to relay the news, I thought to myself, let me give it a try.  At the time, I had never cooked for more than two people.  I called it The Vegetarian Kitchen.  We were a success and sold out of food every night.  No matter how much food we brought out, we sold out every time.  I then saw this as a great opportunity to market my own restaurant idea.  I took a couple of years to research and put together a business plan and we returned with The Land of Kush.  I study the history of the African Diaspora from time to time and Kush itself is an ancient African civilization.  I wanted to bring ancient and natural concepts to our modern society.  I felt as though the name Kush fit and added the “The Land” to invoke a sense of community.  Baltimore is the ultimate community city; a city of neighborhoods.  I wanted the restaurant to have its roots in a city of community.  Our next task was to expand the idea to larger festivals, so starting in 2008 we began cooking at the African American Heritage Festival and ArtScape.  After receiving even more positive feedback and creating some name brand recognition, we found a location in the Mount Vernon Community. 

Naijha Wright

I am a native New Yorker and a people-person with a strong focus on customer satisfaction. Before meeting Greg, I was somewhat conscious about healthy eating although I was not following any discipline.  I was exposed to the vegan/vegetarian lifestyles in my younger years (8 years old) while spending summers in The Berkshires (Massachusetts). I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit.  In 1991, I sold Nu Skin International skincare and nutritional products for a couple of years.  In 2000, I launched an entertainment company, “Now, Dat’s Comedy!” where I promoted and produced comedy and talent shows. And a host of other ventures and partnerships.  I've also held a few corporate positions as well from 1992-present; Chemical Bank, Dow Jones, Credit Suisse First Boston, Verizon Wireless..just to name a few. I landed in Maryland by way of a job relocation. That’s when I met Greg.  We worked for the same company. I never really thought about opening a restaurant or even cooking, for that matter.  When Greg fully introduced me to the world of vegan and vegetarian lifestyles along with the idea of THE LAND of KUSH, that’s when I had an epiphany and I “got in, where I fit in”…..marketing. I even took the initiative to try out some baking (I'm such a sweet tooth)!   Did someone say THE LAND of KUSH Bakery?!  Stay tuned!!!  We’ve been taking off ever since. I hold a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and a universal degree from The School of Hard Knocks! (^_^)