Every Sunday, a homeless man would eat food out of Quadir Flippen’s trash can. Quadir, an executive chef at a cafe in Point Breeze, thought he deserved better.
“My brother made sure he had a plate,” his sister Nashiya Pinder said. “My brother would cook for him on Sundays and give him something to eat. He was an amazing guy who just wanted to cook and make everyone happy.”
Quadir and his cousin opened Black Seed Cafe at 2400 Federal Street in November 2019. He spent long hours in the kitchen cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner and developing new twists on old favorites, like salmon cheesesteaks.
Now, his loved ones, restaurant patrons and community are grieving. Quadir, who also sat on a panel for black engagement with the Mayor’s Office, was arriving at work just before 6 a.m. on Feb. 6 of this year when he was shot and killed in his car outside the restaurant. No arrests have been made.
“He was a leader, he never was a follower,” Nashiya said. “He was determined, he was smart, he was a hard worker and a wonderful strong black man. I’m trying my hardest to get his story out there so we can find his killer.”
Quadir was born July 30, 1988 in Philadelphia to Darlene Pinder and Leslie Flippen. Nashiya, his only sister, is two years and one day older than her brother. The siblings lived together, along with Nashiya’s son, in Point Breeze, not far from the cafe.
Darlene was a single parent, and she used her cooking skills to support her kids by selling platters of food from her home. Quadir learned how to cook by watching his mother and helping in the kitchen.
Quadir graduated from The Preparatory Charter High School in 2006 then went to Penn State on an adademic scholarship where he studied business. He was a “jack of all trades,” Nashiya said, and dabbled in tattoo artistry and DJing, but cooking was closest to his heart.
He launched Quality Taste Catering, which he renamed as Darla’s Kitchen and Catering in honor of his mother, who died in 2017. With the opening of Black Seed, his creativity flourished.
“He loved to try new things, and I was his taste tester,” Nashiya said. “When he got to Black Seed, he tried something new every day. The last one he did was avocado toast. I never got to try it, but I heard it was really good. It was a hit. Everybody loved it.”
Seafood was one of the cuisines Quadir was known for, but he was allergic and was unable to taste it. Still, he was able to nail the flavors.
“He could really make some seafood. It was crazy,” Nashiya said.
Giving back to his community was important to Quadir, and he was involved in numerous efforts to lift people up.
On Mondays, when Black Seed was closed, Quadir and a friend volunteered with an organization to feed the homeless in Philadelphia’s Frankford neighborhood. He was also in the process of opening a cooking program for kids.
For years, Quadir sat on a panel for the Mayor’s Office of Black Male Engagement and participated in events, sharing his wisdom with other young black men.
“More than anything, Quadir wanted to see unity in our community,” the Mayor’s Office of Black Male Engagement said in a statement. “He wanted a better future for the black men and boys of Philadelphia. His vision for a stronger, safer and more unified black community makes his loss even more heartbreaking.”
Nashiya hopes anyone that knows something about Quadir’s murder will step forward.
“I don’t want it to be a cold case,” she said. “He was loved. He was a loyal person, even to ones who weren’t loyal to him. He was a good friend, brother, uncle, son, cousin. He was a good person.”
Quadir is laid to rest at Friends Southwestern Burial Ground.
A reward of up to $20,000 if available to anyone that comes forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Quadir’s murder. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.
