Founder Of Famed Soul Food Restaurant Dies

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And today's last word in business is: Sylvia - Sylvia Woods, the name behind soul food haven Sylvia's.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

It's a restaurant, and for many, it's much more. The Harlem institution has been around for half a century, but it will never be the same because yesterday, Sylvia Woods died at the age of 86, on the same day New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was due to celebrate her legacy.

Sylvia's opened on August 1st, 1962. It became a gathering place for the neighborhood, and celebrities and politicians flocked there to eat her homemade collard greens, grits and ribs.

INSKEEP: Woods was an entrepreneur beyond the restaurant, too, with a line of commercial products and a catering business. The mayor, in a statement, said: We lost a legend.

MONTAGNE: And that's the business news for MORNING EDITION.

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