Brothers Robert Bynum and Benjamin Bynum are lifelong Philadelphians andbecame business partners in 1990 with their first restaurant and jazz club, Zanzibar Blue.Zanzibar Blue became known not only for its good food and classy jazz club, but perhaps more importantly, for changing the cultural landscape of Philadelphia. The Bynum Brothers worked in their father’s neighborhood barand nightclubs during their high school and college years, laying the foundation for their eventual careers in the hospitality business.Robert went to The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Ben to the Restaurant School, now The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College. With his Bachelors in Entrepreneurial Management, Robert first worked in the import-export trade traveling to Africa and Europe, while Ben began working at several Philadelphia restaurant “institutions” like Apropos. The success of Zanzibar Blue led to the opening of Robert and Ben’s second venture,Warmdaddy’s. This concept focused on southern food and Blues music and was one of the first vital businesses in the newly emerging hot spot in Philadelphia, Old City. Within a year of opening Warmdaddy’s, Zanzibar Blue moved from its original
location at 11th & Spruce to the iconic Bellevue at Broad & Walnut Streets. The restaurant and jazz venue took on a slightly different personality. It became a tony supper club with an international menu, a world-class wine list, and internationally known musicians like Jimmy Scott, Lou Rawls, Diana Krall & Harry Connick, Jr., to name but a few. Eventually, Warmdaddy’s moved and continued to thrive in a new home on Columbus Boulevard, and a third restaurant was added to the Bynum hospitality enterprise. Relish, an upscale restaurant serving modern Southern cuisine in the West Oak Lane neighborhood, has become a neighborhood favorite hosting important life event for many in the African American community, important political events and been named one of “America’s Best Brunches” by OpenTable.
In the mid-2000s, the Bynum Brothers looked at current industry trends and developed the Green Soul concept. This fast-casual restaurant incorporated manyof the ingredients found in traditional Soul Food. Still, it offered them a way better suited to the evolving, healthier choices being made by the consumer. In fall 2018,Green Soul moved to its current location in the Spring Garden neighborhood,where it now offers live music, a more extensive menu, and a sit-down diningoption, in addition to a well-appointed bar. Green Soul sits next door to SOUTHJazz Kitchen, arguably the flagship of the Bynum Hospitality Group. At the cornerof Broad and Mt Vernon Streets, SOUTH is where the Low Country cuisine of the American South and the world’s top jazz musicians intersect. Now in its fourth year,SOUTH has been firmly established as Philadelphia’s premier jazz club, serving up the most extraordinary Jazz and Southern cuisine elevated to new heights. Themenu incorporates inventive combinations of traditional and modern, indigenous Southern ingredients with local products, creative presentations and a touch of the unexpected. The SOUTH stage hosts not only the best, young stars of today like Jazzmeia Horn, Bria Skonberg and Veronica Swift, but seasoned, award-winning musicians spanning the jazz spectrum from Bob James to Terell Stafford and Kenny Garrett.