Chef Serigne Mbaye’s previous decade in New Orleans has been a love affair with the metropolis and its meals. “My time here was supposed to be temporary, but New Orleans quickly became a city that I associate myself with, that reminds me of home,” says Mbaye, who was raised in Dakar. “The food, the music, the hospitality, it just reminds me so much of Senegal. The people here embrace you quickly.”
After time in the kitchens of iconic NOLA institutes, like Commander’s Palace, Mbaye opened his personal spot—Dakar—three years in the past, serving a tasting menu that highlights seafood from the Gulf and fashionable Senegalese flavors. “I like cooking food that brings me joy, that connects people, that creates a dialog between me and a guest,” he says. It’s a spirit that has helped Dakar land on numerous “Best of” lists, and nab the James Beard Best New Restaurant award in 2024. It additionally speaks to what he loves greatest about the metropolis’s eating scene proper now: “We’re really supporting small mom and pop spots—places run by people like myself who took a risk opening a restaurant that adds to the city. Places that are doing their own thing, that are owner-operated, where the owner is still there doing the cooking.”
For the newest installment in our Where the Chefs Eat collection, we requested Mbaye to point out us his favourite locations to eat all through New Orleans. Below are his picks for tasty po’boys, piled his by the chef-owner himself, Haitian-Cajun meals with simply the proper hit of spice, and many extra. “New Orleans has so many exciting restaurants that are chef-driven, chef-owned,” Mbaye says. “I think that needs more attention.”
Must-order: the collar wings
I really like the incontrovertible fact that Porgy’s is run by two girls fishmongers, and it is the solely place in New Orleans the place you will get contemporary fish from the Gulf—it isn’t from Thailand or Japan. And they butcher the fish proper in entrance of you. You can order your po’ boy with no matter fish you need, they usually make it right into a sandwich. I feel that is so cool. They even have lovely oysters. I really like the collar wings, too—they use the fish collar and fry them till they’re actually crispy. It looks like a kind of eating places Bourdain would have liked.
Must-order: the Creole rooster with rice and peas, plantains on the aspect
I simply love how Chef Charlie is making the connection between New Orleans’ Creole meals and precise Haitian Creole meals at Fritai. He’s merging these tales and including his personal twist. It’s type of just like what I’m doing, the place I’m telling my very own story about how my meals is linked to New Orleans, and he is displaying how Haitian meals is linked to New Orleans as properly. For instance, New Orleans has pink beans and rice, however he does peas and rice. They have a dish referred to as griot, which to me represents how Creole cooking is sort of a melting pot. You’ll discover plantains, avocado, some protein. It’s simply a mixture of dishes which you could see your self in it, whether or not you are from Korea, whether or not you grew up consuming Cajun meals, or grew up in the Caribbean or West Africa. The pikliz [a pickled slaw] provides some warmth and spiciness. My favourite dish although is the Creole rooster. It’s in a tomato sauce, with rooster has been cooked, good and sluggish, with some white rice with peas. Order some plantains on the aspect and also you’re good.
Must-order: A po’ boy, all dressed