Showtime Heats Up ‘Soul Food’

“Soul Food,” a surprisingly tasty Showtime drama about the ties that bind three African American sisters in Chicago, starts its second season tonight at 10.

Nicole Parker is front and center as Teri, a strong-willed attorney torn between career and family. Teri has threatened to leave her high-powered law firm if it doesn’t ante up big money and make her a partner.

As the first season ended, Teri’s boyfriend Damon (Boris Kodjoe), her sister Bird (Malinda Williams) and brother-in-law Kenny (Rockmond Dunbar) were broadsided by a truck. Damon walked away from the accident with minor injuries, but Bird and Kenny remain in the hospital.

Meanwhile, Kenny’s wife, Maxine (Vanessa Williams), attempts to run his towing business while her son Ahmad (Aaron Meeks) blames himself for the accident.

The show is strongest when focusing on Parker, a charismatic actress capable of carrying this hour on her own. It’s weakest when shifting attention to Ahmad, who serves as its narrator, a kid who shares scenes with the ghost of his late grandmother.

Parker and her female co-stars are engaging and believable as the tightly knit Joseph sisters, and they receive sturdy support from Kodjoe, Dunbar and Darrin Dewitt Henson, who plays Bird’s husband, an ex-con struggling to stay on the straight and narrow.

Based on tonight’s opener, the show also seems more grounded in reality than “Resurrection Blvd.,” Showtime’s other family drama.

Where “Resurrection” is brought down by boxing cliches, “Soul Food” seems fresher, more involving and, yes, easier to swallow. It’s enough to make us come back for second helpings.