When Lacey and Bertha Wilson opened The Grill in 1944, they were the sole employees, and Lacey’s most recent job was as a shoeshine man. Today, it is an epicurean gem, the world’s oldest soul food restaurant, and a D.C. institution. The decades-long path was not always an easy one. Staff refer to the restaurant as being financed “two chickens at a time,” since Lacey would fry and sell two chickens and then the couple would buy two more. During the violence and unrest that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin…
