Afrodesiac Nola started as a food truck, and they were hugely popular. A couple of months ago, the owners opened a brick and mortar restaurant at 5363 Franklin Ave. in Gentilly. I haven’t had a chance to see the new place, but more than one friend has mentioned it to me and I can at least comment on the food that the folks behind the restaurant, Caron and Shaka Garel, were cooking when they had a food truck/popup.
They, by the way, are awesome. Generous with their time and their work and if you meet them, you’ll know they are all about making people happy through food. It helps that their food is delicious, too. It’s Caribbean with elements of New Orleans Creole, or at least that’s how I’d describe it.
A recent menu included boudin balls, and fries you could top with crawfish etouffee or goat in brown gravy. I’d probably go for either the jerk chicken or the fried fish, both of which come with a host of sides and if you know Caribbean food you know the sides are damn near the whole point.
I’m looking forward to checking it out before Jazz Fest.
I learned recently from Ian McNulty that Michael Gulotta is going to open Tana, an Italian restaurant, in Old Metairie. I am a fan of Gulotta’s, and when I had the chance to taste the food he was cooking as a pop-up under the Tana name, I was impressed.
That pop-up was at Treo, which was for a while a really great gastropub on Tulane Avenue. I wrote about Gulotta’s food there back in 2016:
The small menu fits the relatively small dining space; highlights on my visits have been charred broccoli with kumquats, Marcona almonds, chiles and anchovies and corn Flour Garganelli with grilled octopus, boudin noir ragu and mint. Gulotta combines ingredients in thoughtful ways at both of his restaurants, and the food at Tana isn’t an afterthought to the drinks.
The grilled octopus still haunts me a little. I am not proud of that. Anyway, I’ll keep an eye on this one and hope to report on meals there eventually.
My son recently had a wisdom tooth removed and is in the market for soup that can be sipped.
I have a Vitamix blender. I bought it refurbished, but all of the relevant parts are in good shape and it allows me to blend things in a way I did not know things could be blended when I was using a standard blender like most of you poor bastards.
The point is that I put two and two together and came up with soup. A bean and vegetable soup, to be precise, made with chicken stock and cannellini, carrot, onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic. I seasoned it with some thyme and it turned out pretty well once I put it to the Vitamix. I have not, as I write, heard from the boy on the topic, but I think he’ll probably like it.
Seriously, though, Vitamix.
