Trey Owens' life is a beautiful circle. After growing up in Richmond, Owens' life took him around the world working on cruise ships and later military vessels.

He eventually landed back in Richmond where he became part of the team that opened both Soul Taco and JewFro, the latter a restaurant that combines African and Jewish cuisine. 

"The focus [of JewFro] is to bring people together and to start, or/and continue the conversation about these two culinary pathways, these two cultures, and what is so similar about them," Owens said.

Owens was selected this year to travel to Israel to learn more about the people and the food. 

"We got to meet Palestinians. We got to meet Israelis. We got to meet Ethiopian-Israeli Jews. We got to meet Muslims. Just so many different people that we got to meet and talk to," he said. "What I really learned and saw was that the people themselves all got along. It was only that when I got into formal places, I'm not gonna say where, but you could kind of see the divide. And it's just like, come on, you know, these people who I met and bumped shoulders with, you know what I mean, they don't feel that way."

Listen to Eat It, Virginia, to hear more about Trey's trip and his culinary that took him around the world and back home.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.