Creola is opening its doors in Manhattan today, bringing a supper club-style tasting-menu concept to the Upper East Side. The menu explores African American, Caribbean, Southern, and other Black food traditions.
Chef Lana Lagomarsini Opens Creola
The Top Chef semifinalist, chef Lana Lagomarsini, is opening her new restaurant on September 9. Creola draws inspiration from Lagomarsini’s grandmother’s recipes and her own culinary experience. The restaurant is located at 1261 Park Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Before opening Creola, Lagomarsini worked at Gramercy Tavern, Daniel, Momofuku Ko, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns and trained under chef Francis Mallmann in Patagonia. The restaurant is named after her grandmother, who lived nearby and taught Lagomarsini to cook.
The $125 tasting menu will be available with an optional $65 wine pairing, according to Eater New York. Lagomarsini envisioned the intimate restaurant as a supper club rather than a traditional fine-dining space.
Creola has just 14 seats across five tables in a 300-square-foot space. Chef Lagomarsini designed the restaurant herself, using gold, bronze, and blue tones. Creola opens Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
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What’s on the Menu
Creola’s menu goes beyond traditional Creole cuisine, exploring African American, Caribbean, Southern, and broader Black culinary traditions. It combines them with techniques Lagomarsini picked up during her career.
According to the Eater New York report, the menu includes dishes such as potlikker consommé, which is inspired by her grandmother’s collard greens. It also includes oxtail pâté en croûte made with oxtail, plantain, and turmeric, drawing inspiration from a Jamaican beef patty.
Other dishes at the restaurant include scallops with beurre blanc, quail, crudos, and a peanut soup made with pickled shrimp and suya oil. Dessert options include a passionfruit tiramisu and a goose egg pavlova with sorrel-poached berries and rhubarb.
Creola brings a personal dining experience to Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
