When NOLA Café opened last May, I went immediately because … well, beignets. Need I say more?
NOLA Café is known for its specialty coffees and fluffy beignets. After my initial visit, the beignets were revamped to become the desserts you see today, according to business owner Row Aczon.
“We took the same recipe but adjusted the shape of the beignet,” he says. “We made it larger so it’s more stable. It’s fluffier with crispy edges, it’s easier to fill, and it’s a way better product than what it was to start with.”
You can get beignets in quantities of four ($7-$10, depending on flavor) or eight ($14-$20); they come with traditional, vanilla, chocolate or ube fillings. Be sure to ask about the flavor of the month; this month’s is lilikoʻi, and it’s a hot seller, according to Aczon.
“The most popular flavors are vanilla, ube and lilikoʻi,” he says. “There’s a chance we might leave this one on the menu.
“For our chocolate filling, we used to use a cacao powder and mix it in with our pastry cream, but now we do chocolate chips and melt them down,” he adds. “When the pastry cream is hot, we mix it in, and they automatically melt into it.”
Besides beignets, the café started offering Southern-style entrees last fall. While they appear on the lunch menu, you can actually get them first thing in the morning, if you want.
“I decided on these dishes based on what I liked when traveling to Louisiana,” Aczon says. “These are the things I ate and I feel like they translate well to the local palate. These are family recipes.”
While the shrimp etouffee entrée ($15 bowl, $18 plate) — Southern-style shrimp smothered in a thick sauce and served over rice — is a customer favorite, its sandwich counterpart is catching up in popularity.
“The shrimp etouffee is popular because it’s really creamy, buttery and savory,” Aczon says. “The sandwich used to be a pulled pork po boy, which wasn’t really selling that well. Once we changed it over to the shrimp etouffee po boy — people were asking for shrimp po boys — it became popular. People are actually ordering that a lot now.”
The shrimp etouffee po boy comes with a thick, gravy-like sauce for dipping. It’s messy to eat, but 100% worth it.
If you’re looking for something hot and comforting on a chilly day, the gumbo is like a warm hug. Aczon says he’s using a family recipe from his wife’s stepmom.
“She’s won competitions using that recipe,” he says. “We make our own chicken stock and put it in the roux with the trinity — bell peppers, celery and onions—and we have to allow it to cook anywhere from 2 ½ to 3 hours before we add the chicken and sausage. That’s why the gumbo is so flavorful.
“They refer to bell peppers, celery and onions as the trinity in southern cooking,” he adds. “All of our dishes have the trinity inside.”
If you’re looking for a hearty, filling dish, go for the jambalaya ($13). This rice dish features a savory mix of shrimp, chicken and Andouille sausage. While the reddish color might look intimidating, the spice is mild and it’s more flavorful than anything else.
Since Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is coming March 4, the cafe is already starting preorders for king cake. Customers can preorder for pickup every Tuesday starting Feb. 4, according to Aczon.
“The king cake ($30) is essentially a baked pastry,” he says. “It’s reminiscent of a cinnamon roll, but it’s very complex and colorful. Ours is going to have some caramel and cinnamon inside. It will serve six to eight people and will come with Mardi Gras beads and the traditional baby on the side for people to hide.”
CONTACT
NOLA Café
3040 Wai‘alae Ave., Honolulu
808-737-0540
nolacafehnl.com
Instagram: @nolacafehnl
Open daily, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Limited public parking available
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
