History in a bite
The cafe reflects the deep historical and multi-cultural ties that the location, our city and region are built upon. A sense of timelessness, casual elegance, warmth and friendliness will set it apart from the often detached or even sterile feeling of many museum cafes. This is an authentic New Orleans eatery serving fresh local food, as well as curated beverage program featuring inspired selection of coffees, teas, wine and beer.
Menu
The menu is focused on the varied foodways which led to what we today call New Orleans Creole and regional Louisiana cuisines. The rich cultural heritage of French, West African, Italian, Haitian, Spanish, Vietnamese and others would be reflected in the dishes.
Accessible, decadently bright flavors, rich yet light fare with an emphasis on seasonal, local ingredients will help define an iconic menu of standard dishes, as well as an ever-changing selection of soups, salads, sandwiches and pastries. Daily menus might feature items such as a unique sandwich which is a distinctly different and delicious pre-cursor to the muffaletta, once sold by Sicilian street vendors in the French Quarter. Savory meat pies, black-eyed pea calas, charcuterie platters (with house-cured meats and seafood) and house-made pastries would grace the menu, as well as salads such as Salade de Lentilles, Vietnamese Chicken Salad, and seasonal market salads. Soups du jour such as oyster groundnut soup, creamy sos pwa (Haitian red bean soup), Creole vegetable soup and traditional gumbos would highlight our local farmers and fishers, while providing an opportunity to present the narrative of our local foodways.
