CITY ESCAPES
BISTRO NOLAH
Takes you to: New Orleans Actual location: 3669 St-Jean Blvd., Dollard-des-Ormeaux Mission: Sophisticated comfort food Year established: 2011 Creators: Richard Taitt, Isabelle Plourde and Chris Eamer Website: bistronolah.com
WHAT DOES “NOLAH” STAND FOR?
NOLA is what people from New Orleans call the city; it’s an acronym for New Orleans, La. We added the “h” at the end for our domain names.
WHY DID YOU BECOME A CHEF?
Cooking is something you have to love, because when you factor in the blood, sweat and tears involved, it just doesn’t make any sense. My background is West Indian — from Barbados, to be exact — so food has always been a part of my life; my grandmother had me cooking pancakes in the morning with her since I was seven years old. But I didn’t discover my calling until I was 30, when I went to cooking school.
WHY NEW ORLEANS CUISINE?
It’s just the kind of food we wanted to do because of how many nationalities helped build it. There are French, Spanish, African and Native influences, plus the islands around the area. It’s unlike any other cuisine on the planet.
TELL ME ABOUT THE BEIGNETS?
They’re homemade, just like everything else, but they’re different than the ones at Café du Monde. Ours are lighter and less dense because of the flour and water that we use.
WHAT’S NEW AT BISTRO NOLAH?
We just started doing a brunch every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. We’re serving French toast and fried chicken, grits with chorizo and eggs, catfish tacos, and bread-pudding pancakes with bourbon sauce. We were inspired by some of the really hot and trendy brunch locations in Montreal, like Prohibition, l’Avenue, and Régine Café, because there was nothing similar in the West Island. Our amazing customers keep inspiring us to create a unique dining experience for them here in West Island.