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Ayinde Sankofa

@ayindesankofa

1.9K

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3006

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Founder @esopastaclt
#roadto405

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DISCIPLINE

This next year is all about setting and smashing goals and that starts with discipline. Goals are easy to set when motivation is high. The real challenge is staying disciplined when motivation fades, when progress feels slow, and when nobody is watching.

Discipline is showing up on the days you don’t feel like it. It’s choosing the work over the excuses, trusting the process when results aren’t immediate, and remembering why you started in the first place.

You won’t always be motivated, and you won’t always get it right. But if you can stay consistent, hold yourself accountable, and keep putting in the work even when it’s uncomfortable, you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Set the goal. Commit to the process. Let discipline carry you the rest of the way. ✅

The results will come. Keep showing up. 🗣️

#Fitness #discipline #roadto405 #keepgoing

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295 🗣️ (✅ or ❌ ?)

The weight isn’t the the only thing going down and up. So are my emotions right along with it 😅
The highlights are cool but let’s get real 💯
More work to do, see you soon 295 😉

#fitness #letsgetreal #roadto405 #weallfail

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End of Workout: 315 Static Hold
We use this one to get used to the weight 🏋️‍♂️
Having fun with the journey 👍🏾 @timo.cruz7 got jokes 💀😭

#fitness #newgoal #funny #roadto405 #letswork

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Chasing 315 before the end of the year ✍️
There’s never a shortage of a @timo.cruz7 reaction 🤣

#NewGoal #fitness #pr #funny #havingfun

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Slow Progress is better than No Progress 🎯
Song: Life Is a Test (ft Dreadsmang)

Go get this one currently on ALL PLATFORMS ✅

#originalmusic #973 #nj #outnow #allplatforms

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10 years ago. Wow.

In 2016, I was awarded the Tony May Scholarship through the @beardfoundation and somehow this girl from Brooklyn ended up in Italy studying at @icif_italia , the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners.

I knew then that it was an incredible opportunity, but I don’t think I fully understood how much that summer would change me.

I went there to cook and learn, and of course I did plenty of that. But I also traveled. A LOT. 😂 I made friends from all over the world. I wandered through vineyards, ate everything, got on trains and planes, went places where I didn’t speak the language and learned how to figure shit out. I saw parts of the world I had only dreamed about seeing and learned just as much about myself as I did about food.

Looking through these pictures 10 years later is crazy. So much life has happened since then. My career has taken me places I couldn’t have imagined at the time. I’ve had some incredible wins, I’ve been humbled plenty, I’ve worked my ass off, I’ve changed, I’ve grown, and somehow 10 whole years have passed.

More than anything, I’m grateful. Grateful to the Beard Foundation and the Tony May Scholarship for taking a chance on me. Grateful for every person I met along the way. And grateful to the younger version of myself who was brave enough to just GO.

And if there’s one thing that experience taught me that I still believe 10 years later, it’s this: if you get the opportunity to go, GO. Travel while you can. See the world while you can. Eat the food. Meet the people. Get lost. Figure it out. Take the opportunity even if you’re scared or don’t have everything figured out.

Life changes. Responsibilities change. You change. There are some windows in life that don’t stay open forever.

Ten years later, I’m still just a girl from Brooklyn. Just with a lot more stories to tell. ❤️

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There aren’t many places you can eat anything off the menu and it’s absolutely delicious, but at ESO Artisanal Pasta in Optimist Hall it’s true…especially when it comes to their handmade pastas — with incredible sauces and cooked to perfection 🤌🏼 This is my second favorite Italian spot in the city of Charlotte!!

They are so busy since opening, so I would order ahead. And order anything and everything 😍

Some of my faves include:
🧀 Various meats and cheeses, including a 36-month-aged Parmigiano
👉🏻 Italian meatballs
🍝 Cacio e pepe
🍞 Gluten Free Focaccia by @the_accidental_bakr

Husband-and-wife duo Kristina Gambarian and AJ Sankofa are the talent behind @esopastaclt. AJ is from Charlotte and had appeared on Food Network’s Chopped!

#hosted
#clteats #cltfood #cltfoodie #charlottenc

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This might be the best pasta in Charlotte and it’s hiding inside Optimist Hall.

@esopastaclt just opened inside @optimisthallclt, and it’s run by Chef @sunny_kristen and Chef @ayindesankofa,a husband-and-wife duo who left their food truck and brick-and-mortar in Morristown, NJ to bring their pasta game to Charlotte (AJ’s hometown). You might recognize them from @foodnetwork @thegreatfoodtruckrace.

They roll their artisanal pasta fresh every day right behind a glass window so you can watch the magic happen. The sauces? All made in-house too. Right now the menu is tight with four pastas and no proteins yet, but trust me, it’s quality over quantity.

I ordered the Orecchiette All’Arrabbiata ($10 small, $16 large). The pasta was cooked perfectly, the sauce had just the right balance of sweet tomato and spicy kick, and I couldn’t stop eating even though the heat kept building. It also came with a square of focaccia that was so fluffy and flavorful I considered ordering a tray of it to-go.

Pro move: order all smalls and share with friends so you can try everything. Just know that if they’re busy it might take a bit, but they’ll text you when your order’s ready so you can wander around Optimist Hall.
Rumor has it Kristina makes one of the best tiramisus you’ll ever taste, but they’re keeping it off the menu for now. I’ll be first in line when it drops.

Bottom line: ESO Pasta is the real deal. Fresh pasta, legit sauces, and a team that clearly knows what they’re doing.

Looking for more legit Charlotte food spots without the fluff? I made a guide. Find them here:
http://evansfoodguide.com 
Follow me on IG 
Go eat something good! 
Subscribe to my Substack Newsletter to be notified of my newest restaurant reviews and what’s happening in the Charlotte food community! - Link in Bio

#cltfoodie #charlottefoodies #clteats #charlotterestaurants #cltfood #charlottenc #charlottefoodie #clt #optimisthall #pastalover #eatlocalclt #esopastaclt

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Yal don’t know my life line #9

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Reunion tour type shit 🏡 X 9️⃣
🔥🔥🔥🚨🚨🚨
La Familia @lamusicasa

@ayindesankofa @lilskoowap18 @swagg973__ @guapo_doe @willz_the.cameraman @racks_onme_

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LOVE 🫶🤞🏾

The Send Off Party and Performance was a special night filled with a lot of special people. Here’s a little recap 🙏🏾

📸 @2bmediallc 🔥

#loveinhere #sendoff #2025 #9 #lamusicasa #family #love

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With @jockeyhollowbk closing its doors, I want to take a moment to reminisce about the people and the place of where it all started for me. @chefsippel you’ve done something special here. You brought together a bunch of misfits and gave them meaning. You once said to me “there is a lot of things we can’t do, but fuck do we know how to cook”. This place made me feel like for once in my life I belonged. It made me feel empowered, like when I was there, I was apart of something great. It sparked fire in me that I didn’t know I had. Helped me push myself. Those long shifts, the hot kitchen, sweat pouring down my face all just to do it again the next day. Waking up in the morning barely being able to walk because the night before I was getting my ass kicked in service. Then you look to your left and you see the person next to you fighting just the same. Then at the end of your shift, once the last ticket has gone out, you get slid an ice cold beer. Those are the memories I will cherish. #valhalla

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