A love for culinary arts inspired the opening of Safari World Tapas Bar in the South Main Arts District. For Faatimah Muhammad, it’s her latest business launch, which officially opens Aug. 29.

She once owned and operated a couple of sandwich shops, a funeral home, a medical supply store, a restaurant, and now has a social service agency in her portfolio.

Muhammad and her brother, Pastor Jerry L. Ivory, started Urban Family Ministries for alcoholics and substance abusers. He is the executive director; she is the deputy director.

It’s a family affair, said Muhammad, 50. Her brother also operates a church in the same building as the agency and calls it Redeemers Outreach Church.

The social service agency provides job training, housing and a clothes closet for the indigent. The brother and sister team recently received a $400,000 grant from the City of Memphis.

In the 42,000 sq. ft. of space at 2174 Lamar, clients are offered intensive outpatient treatment, and there is an Organic Culinary Arts Academy for children.

Even so, the Safari World Tapas Bar is the fruit of Muhammad’s global travels to faraway countries like South Africa, Brazil, and the Bahamas. She has scheduled a trip to China for this year.

“My friends told me that I was always traveling, taking a trip,” said Muhammad. “They said ‘you are always on some kind of safari.’ That’s why I named the restaurant Safari.”

Now Muhammad tells customers they’re going to get an experience and a journey through food.

The menu is as diverse as her journeys. For example, Jamaican jerk wings are served with coconut rice and an Asian vegetable roll is stuffed with Napa cabbage, shredded carrots, and sprouts, with a sweet Asian glaze.

Since the restaurant doesn’t serve typical American fare of burgers and fries, it is the varied offerings of tapas for which the restaurant is noted.

Tapas are small entrees, Muhammad said. “It’s Spanish in origin and it means to cover a small place. Instead of eating a full meal, they eat entrees and drink wine.”

In the near future, Muhammad said, the restaurant will serve imported beers, spirits and a variety of fine wines from South Africa, Brazil and Argentina.

For now, Muhammad is working on the Aug. 29 grand opening of Safari to the public. “We had a soft opening on July 27,” she said.

Since then tourists have trickled, Muhammad said. Two of them -- Denise Rego and Kethleen Volterra, both from Massachusetts -- were in town recently to visit Beale Street and the Rock and Soul Museum. After the “journey” was over, they told Muhammad they were pleased.

The journey, however, wasn’t complete without her team of employees. “I have my whole family working in the restaurant,” Muhammad said.

Her son, Siddiq Muhammad, 33, is the general manager. Her daughter-in-law, Angela Muhammad, is one of three chefs. The other two are sous chefs: Janessa Key, Muhammad’s sister, and executive chef Alvin Duplantier.

“It’s just a family business,” said Muhammad, whose grandson, Ladarius Muhammad, is a cashier and waiter. “We’ve run restaurants before. But this is the first one Downtown.”

‘I knew I wouldn’t work for anybody’

“I’ve been in business since high school. I knew I wouldn’t work for anybody,” said Muhammad, who graduated in 1976. In 1999, she graduated from Christian Brothers University. And in 2002, she received a master’s in business from American Intercontinental University.

After graduating high school, Muhammad joined the Nation of Islam and changed her name legally in 1986, from Jennifer Louella Ivory to Faatimah Louella Muhammad.

A personal friend of Minister Louis Farrakhan, Muhammad said the controversial leader named her Faatimah, meaning “one who gets things done.” She’s no longer active in the group because business “consumes” her.

After a series of business ventures, the entrepreneurial spirit in Muhammad died along with her youngest son in a childcare accident at then-Shelby State Community College.

“That’s when I stopped all my businesses and went to the coastlands of America, Africa and Brazil to find myself,” said Muhammad, recalling the awful day her 4-year-old son died. Left with just Siddiq Muhammad to raise, she was divorced a year later.

“I had to get away,” she said. “Then I came back and went to Christian Brothers and got my undergraduate degree and a masters. In 1999, I decided to buy my building.”

Muhammad has nine brothers and sisters. One of her sisters, she said, died in 2003 of AIDS and was the inspiration and vision for Urban Family Ministries.

The brain behind Safari
Safari is unique enough for locals yet sophisticated enough for those with a palate for fine cuisine from around the world.

Replete with chandeliers, white covered tables, cushioned metal chairs and wall art that represents her journey to faraway lands, the Downtown eatery doubles as a gathering spot for leisure activity and special events.

The building has three floors. The restaurant is on the street level and seats as many as 75 people. Safari Lounge is below the restaurant and holds an additional 75 people. The third floor isn’t developed, Muhammad said.

She is the brain behind Safari. But it was the customers at her son and daughter-in-law’s beauty shop who convinced Muhammad that she was on to something after she prepared food for them.

After a tenant’s 5-year lease was up on the building bought in 1999, her family urged her to open a business for herself instead of leasing it again.

“They said let’s kick our game up.”

Muhammad did just that when she opened Safari. Then she hired the best chefs that she could find. Two of whom happen to be family members.

A vegetarian, Muhammad admits she doesn’t cook. Instead, she said, “I’m the business behind the operation. They don’t let me in the kitchen unless I’m preparing salads.”

A family affair
Muhammad’s mother and father are still living. He is the oldest of 21 children, she said, and most are still living. He is 80 and has a third-grade education. Her mother is 75 and has two master degrees.

“Between my mom and dad, they own five houses -- and they’re all paid for,” said Muhammad. “And all of their 10 children have been to college.”

Muhammad cried when her parents first visited Safari. “He said, ‘Who’s place is this?’ He had never been in a place of fine dining,” she said.

In the early days, Muhammad said her father knew how to make money with his hands. “He owned a pig farm. And he made our furniture, except for the dining room set. My mom wanted something a little better for company,” she said.

“I learned my business sense from my dad and my mom gave me my drive to complete my education. All of my life I saw her going to school. My mother worked three jobs and my father was a workaholic.

“They worked all day. Now I have people working -- one bus boy, three managers, three chefs and three servers. I only work the computer,” she said.

Her parents are pleased with her success, she said. “They touch me on my shoulders a lot. When the elderly touches you on the shoulders, they’re saying they approve of you.”

This is a ritual from Africa, Muhammad said. “If they don’t touch you, they’re not pleased.” Safari World Tapas Bar is located at 414 South Main in the historic arts district. For more information, call Faatimah Muhammad at (901) 672-7339.