Hip, hip . . . Where Y’at Magazine would like to sincerely convey heartfelt congratulations to all of the 2026 James Beard award-winners but especially Dakar NOLA chef Serigne Mbaye who won this year’s Best Chef: South! Mbaye, who has now received two awards in the space of two years, recently pulled up stakes on his Senegalese restaurant and moved it from Magazine Street to the Riverbend taking over the former Matt & Naddies space on Leonidas Street. We also would like to cheer Thibodaux-native Jean-Paul Bourgeois who’s streaming series Duck Camp Dinners, The Texas Tour won the Lifestyle Visual Media award. Great job guys, we can’t wait to see what y’all do next.
jamesbeard.org, dakarnola.com
One stop shop . . . Once a Mid-City auto shop located on the pointed corner of Moss Street and Hagan Avenue, the space has been transformed by owners Caroline Rogers and Mike Bertel into something completely different. Opened mid-June, Farmer’s Butcher & Farmstop is a farmers market, grocery store and shop featuring local-sourced everything from fresh produce and dairy products to a full meat counter starring beloved butcher and bologna-maker Leighann Smith – co-proprietor of the now defunct Piece of Meat restaurant. Go for a gallon of fresh milk and leave with a basket full of everything from andouille sausage and honey to signature stationary made by Sassy Banana Design Co.
519 Hagan Ave., farmersnola.com
Stay vertical . . . Shawarma Al Dimashqi is a new spot that recently opened on the Westbank specializing in (you guessed it) crispy, Syrian-style shawarma sandwiches. Thinly sliced from large vertical rotisseries, the restaurant is serving up hefty portions of chicken and beef shawarma in wraps and platters with stellar sides like baba ganuj, crinkle fries and garlicky toum. The shop is located at the far end of Manhattan Blvd. in a tiny strip mall behind a gas station, but it’s well worth the drive.
2630 Manhattan Blvd., Ste. A, @shawarma_aldimashqi
Ladies night . . . Famous French Quarter restaurant The Court of Two Sisters recently opened an eponymous po-boy shop and bar just around the corner on Bourbon Street. Appropriately dubbed Two Sisters on Bourbon, the new space brings “casual dining, signature hospitality, and authentic New Orleans flavor” to the party serving fried seafood, po-boys, boudin balls and craft cocktails. The shop also offers an event venue in case you need additional space to party on one of the world’s most festive streets. “We’re building on generations of hospitality while creating a space that feels welcoming and uniquely suited to Bourbon Street,” said Alex Fein, a longtime stewards of the historic Court of Two Sisters. “We are thoughtfully expanding while staying true to what our family has always valued.”
612 Bourbon St., twosistersonbourbon.com
Making moves . . . Although it opened in October late last year on David Drive, Asian-fusion restaurant Yummie Box Hibachi Express has recently moved to Veterans Memorial Boulevard. Maybe they had a crummy landlord or maybe they were able to purchase their own digs, either way, your hibachi needs just got more convenient, especially if you are already located in the burbs. Get crispy sweet heat wings with blue cheese dipping sauce, creamy Crab Rangoon, egg rolls and boxes filled with hibachi shrimp, steak, chicken, lobster and more with lots of rice and “yumyum” sauce.
1700 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Ste. 100, @yummieboxnola
Did someone say snack house? . . . Slavic food pop-up Dom Zakuski (house of snacks) opens soon in the Marigny, taking over the space that last held breakfast spot Horn’s. The proud owner, first generation Russian baker Katya Simkhovich, made the move from her birthplace in Massachusetts to New Orleans a few years ago and began sharing Slavic cuisine at pop-ups around the city. Eastern European food-lovers would often find her slinging dishes like beef and carrot pirozhok (pirozhki) and vegan vinagrets (root veggie salad with beets, potatoes and carrots) at Anna’s in Bywater or baking oreashki (walnut cookies), rye bread, and other treats for Piety Market at Hotel Peter & Paul, but she gained some real stardom in last year’s Carnival season. King cake aficionados flocked to try her marvelous poppy seed king cakes, a fluffy brioche with ground poppy seed filling, drizzled with lemon and sour cream icing topped with a little matryoshka (Russian nesting doll) fève. At Dom Zakuski, be prepared for meals that feel like you’re eating at babushka’s (maw-maw’s) house with dishes like her rye bread with dill butter and pickles; mushroom and buckwheat-stuffed cabbage rolls . . . as well as slugs (and bottles) of her own infused vodkas.
1940 Dauphine St., @dom.zakuski
The prodigal daughters return . . . For over 50 years, some of the best (and most affordable) soul food in town could be found at Two Sister Restaurant on N. Derbigny Street, but it closed in 2011. Although owner Colette Finister opened up a new shop on Chef Menteur Highway called Two Sisters ‘N Da East, fans of their turkey necks, stewed oxtails and chitterlings were clamouring for their return to the neighborhood and now that fateful day has finally come. Colette and her sister Shanel Snowton have opened (with help from the “Soul Queen” herself, Irma Thomas) Two Sisters in Treme on the ground floor of the Prince Hall Masonic Temple on Basin Street. I’m looking forward to the Finister’s signature red beans and fried chicken with a slab of strawberry cake for dessert.
1610 Basin St.
*Article originally published in the September 2026 issue of Where Y’at Magazine
