Not long after The Sol Section, Genesee County’s only fully plant-based café and juice bar, opened last summer inside Totem Books near Downtown Flint, videos began popping up all over its social media platforms.
They capture numerous customers uttering “oohs, ahhs and ohs” as they savor unique, vegan flavors.
One patron asks if there is actually no bacon on the C.L.T. (coconut, lettuce and tomato) sandwich as she lowers it back to the plate after indulging in a bite.
Another customer is seen at the counter receiving an order of Walnut Nachos. After a few crunchy bites, she points down at the plate while still holding a chip in her hand and asks, “So, there is really no meat in here?”
A more recent video catches someone deep into sampling the Possible Buff Burger. When asked for an opinion, the diner can only respond with another question while covering her mouth: “Can I have a napkin first?,” she asks.
Such has been the response to The Sol Section fare, currently being offered on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 11AM-6PM.
“Everybody is really enjoying not only the food, but also the whole atmosphere and healthy, healing conversation we provide,” says Chef Buffi Clements, who has eaten a plant-based diet for roughly seven years. “People who already eat plant-based meals love what we are doing and people who have never tried vegan food are really in awe of how good it is. We usually exceed their expectations and kind of blow any preconceived notions they might have out of the water.”
Dubbed a place “Where Better Begins”, Sol Section is the brainchild of Clements, renowned Flint hip-hop and spoken word artist, activist and motivational speaker Melinda “Mama Sōl” Wilson and Healthy Side Juice founder, Sa’eed Littlejohn.
“We’ve loved seeing people react so positively to our food,” says Wilson, who has adhered to a plant-based diet for more than a dozen years. “Some are shocked by the great taste and quality, and our videos show that. We use all fresh ingredients, none that you can’t pronounce, to make the food as healthy as possible and prepare it with dedication and care.”
The menu features dishes Clements and Wilson have enjoyed preparing at home for years and others conceived since The Sol Section’s opening.
“I started to feel it was my duty to at least provide a space where people can experience what the option of eating a plant-based diet can do for them.”
Melinda “Mama Sol” Wilson
One of the more recent offerings, Possible Buff Burger, dropped in mid-January after Clements spent more than a year perfecting the patty made with mushrooms, brown rice, oatmeal and walnuts. It can be ordered with toppings like pepper jack or cheddar cheese, grilled jalapeños, sautéed or crispy onions, pickles, olives, lettuce, tomato and coconut bacon.
The Walnut Nachos mix includes soft ground walnuts, lettuce, tomato, onions, black olives, jalapenos and optional sour cream covered in homemade cashew queso and served on organic chia & quinoa tortilla chips.
In addition to the C.L.T. (served on wheat bread), other sandwiches include the Phish Rich-Boy (as opposed to po-boy) – hearts of palm, vegan cheese, pickles, lettuce and tartar sauce on a hoagie bun.
Walnut-chickpea Chili, cashew queso, cashew sour cream and green onion smother the Chili Cheeze Fries while the chili itself is offered seasonally and is made with walnuts, kidney beans, onions, peppers and spices.
Sol Section’s “wings”, available in plain or buffalo flavor, are crispy-fried oyster mushrooms. The seasonal Chickpea Salad contains veganaise, red onion, red bell pepper, onion, celery and pickles.
“Initially, the Walnut Nachos were the most popular thing on the menu and then the fried mushroom sandwich took over as our top seller,” Clements says. “Then, we dropped the Phish Rich-Boy in the fall and for about two months, it seemed like nobody wanted anything but that. Now, the Buff Burger is topping the charts.”
The Sol Section Sunday brunch menu (served 11AM-3PM) includes fried oyster mushrooms & waffles, cheesy polenta & heart of palm phish, avocado toast, and veggie mung bean egg scramble.
Littlejohn’s juice offerings include Money Green (apple, kiwi, cucumber, collard greens, kale, lemon); Heart Beet (beets, apple, carrot, lime, ginger); Blue Breeze (apple, lemon, blue spirulina) and The Get Up (pineapple, apple, carrot, lemon, ginger).
Other drinks include Sol Real (spring water, hibiscus, cloves, allspice, star anise, honey) and Black Sol (apple, activated coconut charcoal, aloe vera, lime, ginger).
Locally-grown ingredients, including from Clements’ own garden, are used as much as possible.
“Sa’eed and I get most of our ingredients and all of our produce from Flint Farmers’ Market vendors like Bushels and Peck’s,” Clements says. “There are a few things we can’t get locally, but we’ve found great places to outsource them.”
Carefully selected ingredients, thoughtful meal preparation and an innovative menu are among the reasons most online reviews of The Sol Section have also been overwhelmingly positive, like a Google review posted in mid-January by Daniel Nowaczyk of Swartz Creek.
“My wife and I went to Totem on Saturday, and as we pulled in I said ‘something smells really good’,” he wrote. “I picked up a Phish Rich-Boy, a C.L.T. and some chili cheeze fries along with a The Get Up juice. I had some amazing counter banter after I ordered talking basketball – the atmosphere and service are unmatched. I couldn’t tell my sandwich wasn’t actually fish, my wife couldn’t tell she wasn’t eating bacon on her C.L.T. (and) the smokiness and flavor of the chili was spectacular.”
Clements and Wilson also offer meals, usually something not on The Sol Section menu, at Queens Provisions, a beer, wine and charcuterie shop in Downtown Flint, on Thursdays from 5:30-9PM. Examples include a smoky gouda melt with basil tomato soup and jackfruit enchiladas with cilantro sauce.
Wilson, who has shared stages with the likes of female hip-hop pioneer MC Lyte and five-time Grammy winners Robert Glasper and Snarky Puppy, has twice survived breast cancer.
Her most recent battle with the disease ended in 2019 after which she soon moved back to Flint from Atlanta. She took a unique approach to treating her cancer, shunning traditional medications and chemotherapy for holistic medicine, a plant-based diet and other non-traditional treatment.
Motivated by how her plant-based eating habits helped her heal and then regain strength, Wilson began contemplating how she could make such food more accessible to Flint-area residents.
“I started to feel it was my duty to at least provide a space where people can experience what the option of eating a plant-based diet can do for them,” she says.
Wilson had a plan, but needed a chef specializing in plant-based food and a space to make it a reality. Trusted friends began mentioning Clements, who had been selling plant-based meals from her home since the start of the pandemic, and later at public events.
Their paths finally crossed when Wilson stepped in line to purchase food Clements was making during the 2022 Taste of 810 event.
“(Acclaimed Flint) Chef Nate Brown convinced me to offer my food at 810 Day and I’m so glad I did, because that’s how my friendship with Sōl began,” Clements recalls. “From that very first time we met, we began a discussion about starting a café offering more plant-based dishes because there are not many options in the area.”
Sa’eed Littlejohn, whom Clements had gotten to know as they served their food and beverages at the same public events, was soon on board to provide beverages.
Now, all they needed was a space and Chef Nate stepped in again.
“Nate said he was having trouble filling that space inside Totem consistently and offered it to us,” Wilson says. “Fortunately, I’ve known (Totem Books owner) Dean Yeotis for years and he said he would love for us to occupy that space. Totem just made sense, because we love the environment there.”
“Between my food, Mama Sōl’s presence and Sa’eed’s amazing juices and great spirit, I would say we are operating as a great team.”
Chef Buffi Clements
Crafting a menu was the next step.
To that end, Wilson and Clements began a process of cooking and comparing dishes, bouncing suggestions off each other back in the summer of 2023.
They were able to conduct a trial run, of sorts, when Totem Books agreed to host a series of events organized by Wilson and Clements called “A Month Full of Sundays” during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October 2023.
Each Sunday, the pair offered dishes they were considering for the menu while Littlejohn prepared several of his signature juices. The events also featured guest speakers and live performances by Wilson and others.
“The ‘Month Full of Sundays’ events were pretty successful for us because, with a single ticket, anyone who attended was given food and juice samples along with the entertainment and speeches,” Wilson says.
“I also interviewed with people about the benefits of a healthy, plant-based diet.”
The Sol Section finally came to fruition with a soft opening on July 23 before a grand opening on August 6.
Clements’ road to that point actually began when she was a child spending countless hours in the kitchen and gardens assisting and learning from her mother and grandmother. A passion for cooking was born which later served her well when she became a single mother of four.
“Growing up, I always wanted to be around the kitchen, which was my training because I’ve never taken any cooking classes,” she shares. “My grandmother and mother always had good-sized gardens as well, so I gained an appreciation for every step of the food-preparing process. I just started to enjoy watching people enjoy food I prepared which continued as I cooked all the time for my kids and started selling my dishes.”
Wilson’s schedule prevents her from always being there when The Sol Section is open, but Clements, Littlejohn and Clements’ fiancé, Calvin Blake are almost always behind the counter. Wilson hopes to soon be open Mondays before adding a fourth day later this year at which point additional staff can be hired.
Clements plans to make The Sol Section more of a farm-to-table experience, growing 75% of the menu’s ingredients in her own garden.
“Between my food, Mama Sōl’s presence and Sa’eed’s amazing juices and great spirit, I would say we are operating as a great team,” Clements says. “We’re loving this experience.”
