One family recipe. Fourteen years. An everything sauce born from grit and soul.
Mr. Levi Johnson Jr. grew up in a family of great cooks. His grandfather, Ottway Clemons, was a Tennessee pit master who built his reputation on a white vinegar-based sauce with serious heat. That recipe became legend at family gatherings — the kind of sauce people talked about long after the meal was over.
When Levi moved to Detroit, he knew northern palates wanted something different. So he adapted his grandfather’s foundation: natural sweetness instead of processed sugar, apple cider vinegar instead of white, and just enough heat to make you reach for another bite. The result wasn’t just a regional variation — it was an all-purpose soul sauce that works on ribs, vegetables, seafood, breakfast omelets, and even jerk chicken poutine.
“Best of north and south,” Levi says. That’s what MyT Fine Soul Sauce delivers.
Before there was a bottle, there was a man and his fire.
Ottway Clemons — Tennessee pit master, family legend, the man behind the recipe.
Ottway Clemons didn’t write the recipe down. He didn’t need to. It lived in his hands — in the ratio of heat to vinegar, in the timing, in the judgment that only comes from years standing over a fire.
He was a Tennessee pit master in the truest sense. His white vinegar-based sauce had heat that earned its reputation at family gatherings across generations. People drove for it. People talked about it for years after the plates were cleared.
Levi Johnson Jr. carried that recipe north to Detroit — and spent years translating it. Not watering it down. Translating it. Apple cider vinegar for white. Natural sweetness for processed sugar. The heat stayed. The soul stayed. What changed was the range.
Every bottle of MyT Fine Soul Sauce starts here. With Ottway. With Tennessee. With the kind of cooking that doesn’t need a label because everyone at the table already knows.
Levi started making sauce in his home kitchen using pressure-cooking techniques he perfected over years. He’d sell bottles from his car trunk between music sets — and audiences lined up to buy. That’s when he knew the sauce had something special.
As demand grew, Levi moved production to Eastern Market’s communal kitchen. He’d set up cart demonstrations at Belle Isle, cooking in front of curious crowds who became repeat customers. Word spread through Detroit’s food community.
Levi’s first retail placement was at Western Market Ferndale, where the sauce became a bestseller. That success led to placements across southeast Michigan — independent markets, specialty shops, and eventually major chains. Today, MyT Fine Soul Sauce is available in 90+ locations, including more than 60 Meijer stores.
Fourteen years of bootstrapping across southeast Michigan. No HFCS. No preservatives. No excess sodium. No gluten. No fillers. Just a Tennessee-to-Detroit story cooked into every bottle.
Before MyT Fine Soul Sauce, Levi worked as a mechanic with the Detroit Board of Education. When the district privatized, he took early retirement and went full-time into sauce production. But calling him just a “sauce maker” misses the bigger picture.
Levi is a soul singer, a painter, and a kalimba player — the same instrument Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire made famous. His music career introduced him to people across Detroit’s creative community. His trunk sales between sets weren’t just commerce — they were relationship-building in sauce form.
Today, Levi has stopped eating red meat and eats mostly seafood. That dietary shift deepened his understanding of versatility. If the sauce couldn’t work on fish, shrimp, and vegetables as well as it did on ribs, it wasn’t living up to its potential. That’s why MyT Fine Soul Sauce replaced cocktail sauce in his kitchen — and why chefs like Reniel of Flavors of Jamaica reach for it when building a jerk chicken poutine.
Levi’s daughter, Antisia King, serves as Vice President and, in Levi’s words, is “in charge of everything — including me.” She manages operations, drives strategic partnerships, and ensures MyT Fine Soul Sauce shows up at major Detroit events with visibility and purpose.
Three generations have appeared on TV together: Levi, Antisia’s son T.J. King, and Levi’s grandson Brandon. When you see MyT Fine Soul Sauce at a Detroit food festival or sponsoring a community event, that’s Antisia making sure the brand shows up where it matters.
Antisia uses the sauce in her turkey chili and meatloaf. If it’s good enough for family Sunday dinner, it’s good enough for yours.
Most commercial BBQ sauces contain 7-17 grams of sugar per tablespoon and 424mg of sodium (18% of your daily intake). They’re built for shelf stability and profit margins, not for how people actually cook.
MyT Fine Soul Sauce takes a different approach:
“This sauce works on everything because it respects the food you’re making. It doesn’t overpower — it enhances.”
From the grill to the campfire to your kitchen. Available in mild, spicy, and habanero.
MyT Fine Soul Sauce is proudly made in Michigan and available in 90+ locations including independent Detroit markets and online at mytfinellc.com
