The Student Center Governing Board and the Vendor Services Committee held a special meeting this morning to decide the outcome of the new soul food restaurant, which will open in the spring 2008 semester.

With the final two of four candidates, Two Jack’s Seafood and Jessie’s Hot House, presenting their food at a tasting in the Cesar Chavez Student Center on Dec. 7 in which more than 400 people showed their support, Jessie’s Hot House was selected over Two Jack’s Seafood by the narrowest of margins.

“Soul food should be experienced by everyone,” owner of Jessie’s Hot House Robert Darden, said. “It has a spirit of survival, resiliency, and overcoming. It also has a lot of passion and flavor, and I feel a lot of soul when I make it.”

Darden, who is a vegetarian, emphasized healthy eating and a rebirth of the recipes he uses, to obtain better food by using less salt and fat.

“I probably started cooking when I was 8-years-old,” Darden said. “I learned from my grandmother Jessie, who I still call for advice in Clarksville, Tenn.”

According to Edina Bajraktarevic, Retail Commercial Services Manager at the student center, it was the Student Project who pushed to get this done.

“They felt SF State could benefit from soul food,” Bajraktarevic said. “The next opportunity is for Japanese, Thai, or Filipino cuisine in the space next to The Pub.”

In a thorough presentation at the meeting Bajraktarevic pointed out the categories and rating system used in the evaluation of the two candidates.

“There were four categories rated on a scale of 1-to-10,” she said. “Product appearance, product taste, product quality, and overall quality.”

When the four categories were totaled, the average score out of 10 for Two Jack’s Seafood was 7.72, while Jessie’s Hot House received an 8.55.

For those who wish to try Two Jack’s Seafood, they may do so at the restaurant location at 401 Haight St. in San Francisco.