New Jersey’s vibrant food scene has found an unstoppable force in Ehi-Faith Oluwadare—-a mother, survivor, and powerhouse serial entrepreneur whose journey is anything but ordinary.
Today, Oluwadare helms House 157, an award-winning restaurant already gearing up for its third anniversary, a feat in an industry notorious for chewing up and spitting out newcomers. Her newest culinary dream, Legacy 27, is already waiting in the wings, promising an all-American menu served with her signature excellence.
But the path to fine dining glory started far from the kitchen. A Rutgers grad who once dabbled in nursing, Oluwadare stumbled into entrepreneurship while answering phones as a secretary at a shipping company. Six months later, she ditched the desk, opened Faithful International Shipping Company, and grew it into a 15,000-square-foot logistics hub moving containers, trucks, and heavy machinery worldwide.
Yet, life had harsher lessons in store. Domestic violence in her first marriage crashed her shipping empire — a bitter turning point that taught her to build teams, not just dreams. Today, she manages a 40-person staff and delegates like a pro.
Love sparked her next chapter. Planning her second wedding unlocked her hidden talent for event décor, birthing DE Luxury Events. She designed luxury displays for Nordstrom and ran event spaces until local pushback forced her to think bigger. The result? She bought her own building and launched House 157, an inclusive culinary melting pot where every ethnicity finds a seat at the table.
House 157’s accolades are stacking up: three awards, a cameo in an upcoming film, and a feature in The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Meanwhile, Oluwadare’s non-profit, A Mother’s Road to Zion, channels her hard-earned wisdom to support survivors of domestic abuse, ensuring no woman stands alone as she once did.
Resilient and unafraid, Oluwadare lives by a simple motto: “What’s the worst that can happen?” If history is any clue, her next move will be even bigger, bolder, and impossible to ignore.
Ehi-Faith Oluwadare, rewriting the American dream, one fearless pivot at a time.
