A Different Sort of Soul Food

New restaurants open all the time. But when it happens in a town the size of St. Francisville—a place that has suffered a limited range of dining options for a while—the arrival of a promising new eatery is serious news. Suddenly one Friday lunchtime in mid-August, in a convenience store that was formerly home to the much-missed Eight Sisters soul food restaurant, Al Aqaba appeared, offering a different sort of soul food—dishes that chef/owner Naser al Dallal and his wife, Robin, say offer a taste of Naser’s home country: Jordan. When the al Dallals opened the doors, they were immediately overwhelmed by a lunch crowd wild for new flavors.

Chef Naser, described by his wife as “just an incredible, natural home cook,” serves authentic, lovingly prepared Jordanian, Greek, and Lebanese specialties—from creamy, homemade hummus served with warm pita all the way to fragrant kibi, crisp falafel, Jordanian-baked kafta, mousaka, and the juiciest grilled lamb kabob you ever sank your teeth into. By Friday evening word had spread and the restaurant was mobbed. The following Monday the pace had abated a bit, giving Robin al Dallal time to explain the restaurant’s plans to offer daily specials featuring more authentic glimpses of Jordanian home cooking, like mansaf—a dish of lamb shank cooked with saffron rice and yogurt soup.

For now though the couple are concentrating on satisfying St. Francisville’s apparently bottomless appetite for chicken shawarma, baba ghannouj and stuffed grape leaves and on speeding up the service. Currently commuting from Baton Rouge, the al Dallals are also making plans to move their family to St. Francisville soon. If the quality of the food is any guide, they won’t need to promote the restaurant much. Word-of-mouth should do the trick. Open seven days for lunch and dinner at 5712 Commerce Street.