Christina ‘Lala’ Harrison
Chef Lala Harrison, above, is debuting her first brick-and-mortar restaurant, the hotly anticipated Roux40, in Oakland next month. INSIDE SCOOP ON ROUX40 FROM THE CHEF BEHIND OAKLAND’S SOON-TO-OPEN BLACK HERITAGE, ALL FEMALE-RUN RESTAURANT
When it opens in the Temescal District of Oakland, Christina “Lala” Harrison’s first restaurant will be so much more than a place to eat. Roux40, located in the former Magpie digs, will serve treasured Black American dishes with a farm-to-table twist. It will be funded by Harrison and her community. And it will be built, designed and run entirely by Black women and women of color.
Harrison, who is 35 and grew up in Berkeley and Richmond, is best known for her pandemic-born Cajun-Cali catering and meal prep business, JusLaEats. But all of her work, including stints at Brown Sugar Kitchen and Flora, and the years she spent teaching at-risk young people of color through East Oakland’s YouthUprising, has led to building Roux40, a place where Black women and women of color can be leaders, she says.
Harrison, who is eyeing a November opening, plans to source produce from Brown Girl Farms in Hayward and wine and beer from Black-owned wineries and breweries. And she hopes to hire young people of color with an interest in restaurants. We recently sat down with Harrison to find out more about menu inspiration and her background, including her connection to Chez Panisse.
Q
What inspired you to get into cooking?
A
I was working in video production but fell in love with cooking when I took my first culinary class at Laney College. It was about creating something that people enjoyed and seeing that reaction to creating. Also, in high school, my best friend’s mom, Patricia Curtan, had a relationship to Chez Panisse; she illustrated the restaurant’s menus and Alice Waters’ books, and she really exposed me to the farmto-table life. We were just high school kids getting to enjoy this amazing fresh food from the garden. That stayed with me.
Q
And becoming a chef? Was there a mentor or memorable experience?
A
I’d say working my way up at Flora until I was sous chef. I loved the pace, and Rico Rivera, who now runs Almond & Oak, took me under his wing. He started giving me the freedom to create the menu. It was really a blessing. Then I reached a peak at Flora. Around the same time, I also saw this lack of ethnicity in the industry, and I wanted to change that, so I knew I needed to start my own business.
Q That’s how you started JusLaEats?
A
JusLaEats is my baby. It’s the hub. I began by doing meal prep, small catering and consulting and working out of commercial kitchens. Then the pandemic happened. So I started a business model that was pretty much, “Stay home, stay safe.” We would deliver food all over the Bay Area, free of charge, Fremont to Pacifica to Brentwood. Then
the same customers wanted us to do pop-ups, so we held one in the Palmetto space (in Oakland) for about a year. Eventually, we were operating four days a week doing about 2,000 meals a week for (José Andrés’) World Central Kitchen.
Q
And Roux40 is your forthcoming baby! Tell us about the concept.
A
From the concept to the design, it is like an Afro-centric, art-forward lounge showcasing family and ’90s R&B music. I want it to feel like you’re hanging out in the living room of an African American family. This restaurant is very personal to me as a Black woman. From my general manager to my designers, we are all Black women and women of color. I have used female contractors as much as possible. It’s very important to me.
Q
Can you tell us more about Black heritage cuisine?
AIn the beginning of my career, I strayed away from cooking soul food and food that people think is Black food, because traditionally they don’t think of that as fine dining. But I wanted to make it fine dining. I was inspired by (the book and Netflix series) “High on the Hog” and the history of African American food. Originally, slaves were farmers. It’s what we had to do. At Roux40, I want to do food that comes from African American households as really beautiful small plates, and show how the food in a Black household from one part of the country can be very different than another.
QCan
you give us some examples?
A
I have a composed dish, a farro risotto with stewed red beans, sweet potato gremolata and charred scallion vinaigrette, that gives you the feeling of eating red beans and rice. I also have a chicken- and riceforward dish made with sticky Carolina gold rice, confit chicken and Bellevue broth. In Black communities, there’s always supper after church, usually around 3 p.m., and we’re going to honor that. We’ll have an oyster section that will highlight them regionally, charbroiled from New Orleans, raw for California and oyster stew that comes from the East Coast.
QAnd
the beverages, please …
A
We’re going for a full liquor license. We want to showcase Black-owned wineries and breweries. And I’m working with Sadé Stamps from Sobre Mesa on the cocktail menu. We really connected on this women empowerment level. We’ll have mint juleps and other traditional Southern cocktails. We will have cocktails with KoolAid in them.