By When I travel to different places, I always try to seek out restaurants that are African-American owned. I don’t believe there is enough life shined on these kind of restaurants. There is a stigma associated with them though. There isn’t enough creativity, service lacks, or the food is too original. I decided to come to this restaurant because it’s owned by Chef Edouardo Jordan who is of African-American decent. When I researched the restaurant, I noticed this restaurant was apart of two places that he owned. One was an upscale restaurant, and the other one which is JuneBaby, is catered more towards Soul-Food.
The restaurant looks as though it seats up to 50 people at one time. They don’t take reservations so you have to get there early if you want a table. The inside of the restaurant has a clean look to it with an open kitchen where you can see some of the magic happens if you’re lucky. During my visit I was able to order four dishes. The dishes consisted of Chitterlings, Pig Ears, Fried Chicken, and Fried Catfish.
I’ll start this review off with the Chitterlings. I want to say that the only person that has ever made me Chitterlings is my grandmother. I actually called her before I ordered this dish to get the okay from her. She informed me of things that I needed to look for in regards to if the Chitterlings would be good or not. I was a little skeptical but I had to give them a chance. It was one of the best decisions I made. The chitterlings were actually my favorite dish of the night, believe it or not. They were made with onion, celery, potatoes, and sat on top of a white rice. Chitterlings are pig intestines, and has a history of being fed to slaves as the food looked “beneath” slave owners. The chitterlings were juicy, peppery, and succulent. If Chitterlings were on the menu at a restaurant you were going to, would you order it?
The next dish that I ordered were the Pig Ears. It consisted of pickled onions, pecan butter, and honey. The Pig Ears were fried to perfection. They were a good snack to have and had the consistency and flavor of Fried Chicken Skin. The pickled onions went great with this dish as it provided a tangy flavor to go with the nutty flavor of the pecan butter. If you’ve never had Pig Ears, then now would be the perfect time to order them.
The third dish that was ordered was the Fried Chicken. It consisted of Lima Bean Salad and a Honey Biscuit. This dish didn’t exceed expectations like I thought it would. The Lima Bean salad was great, but the presentation of this dish was off. Although a generous portion of chicken was provided, I believed it to be over breaded. The chicken was smoking hot when I took a bite out of it, but the flavors just weren’t there. I added hot sauce to the chicken to enhance the flavor, so that worked a little. I’m not big on bread when I dine at restaurants so if you want a review on how good the biscuit was you’ll have to find out for yourself.
The last dish that was ordered was the Fried Catfish. It consisted of Geechie boy white grits, spinach, corn, and red sauce. The presentation on this dish was beautiful. Almost too pretty to eat. The catfish was meaty and flavorful but was kept simple in regards to ingredients used. The grits were creamy and worked well with the corn and red sauce. Even though spinach was included in this dish, it didn’t overpower the grits or the fish.
Overall, this restaurant is a must go-to. The only dish that wasn’t my favorite was the Fried Chicken. I would recommend you try out this restaurant if you’re looking for an upscale African-American restaurant. When you decide to go, let me know what you think.
SavoryTravels 