Marcus Samuelsson lives in Harlem. He loves Harlem. He loves it so much that he decided to spread it to east London.

Mr. Samuelsson’s Red Rooster Harlem, a neighborhood restaurant known for its soul food and soul-stirring gospel brunches, has birthed a doppelgänger Red Rooster Shoreditch.

The restaurant, which opened in May, is one of several ventures placing him into new territory. Having already established restaurants in Bermuda and in Sweden, Mr. Samuelsson opened the eponymous Marcus late last year at MGM National Harbor, a casino in Maryland outside Washington, D.C., and anticipation is high for Marcus B & P set to open any day now in downtown Newark. He generated buzz this summer when he signed a lease to open a still unnamed restaurant on Brooklyn’s Greenpoint waterfront.

Among the new additions to his culinary portfolio, Red Rooster Shoreditch stands apart for its unabashed exaltation of Harlem and black American culture. But what happens when you try to bottle Harlem up like hot sauce and sprinkle it? Does it taste the same when commoditized? Does it lose its flavor?