Fritai

Walking through the doors of its corner location on Basin Street in Treme feels like stepping into another world. The walls are bright, filled with Haitian art. The floors have the patina of decades of use, and the booths are worn in with heat and the heaviness of human bodies, of a community sitting down. Fritai, in short, feels lived in.

For chef and owner Charly Pierre, a two-time James Beard finalist, food and community go hand in hand, and at Fritai, that food sings. With a father who was a skilled chef working in the hospitality industry and a mother who cooked Haitian dishes at home, it’s no surprise that Pierre ended up running his own restaurant.

Menu standouts include the kabrit, twice-cooked goat served with rice and beans and fried plantains, as well as the Creole chicken, blue crab mac and cheese, and the Fritai sandwich, pork or chicken with avocado and spicy mango sauce between two fried green plantains—a dish that first created buzz for Fritai when it was but a humble food stall at the St. Roch Market.

Fritai is also deeply involved in the communities it serves. It has held fundraisers for Haiti, and chef Pierre hosts culture talks and community forums addressing race awareness and gender rights in the industry, with the goal of bringing progress and cultural awareness to the forefront in New Orleans cuisine.

It’s in these ways that Pierre sees food as a major driver of change, showing how it can contribute to a community by bringing people together, families and strangers, to share in thoughts and discussions over a great meal, with a side of spicy pikliz to help cut through the fat.