Coffee and a bike tune-up
Australian Dan Etheridge, who has a background in architecture, was drawn to the building that now houses his coffee shop because of its unusual pagoda-style roof. The location had been part of Charles Tung’s Oriental Laundry chain, which was headquartered on Bourbon Street but operated from numerous spots throughout New Orleans in the 1930s. It had been vacant for years prior to being purchased by Dan and his former catering partner and cook, Shana Sassoon, a Texan by way of India.
Pagoda Café, opened in 2013, not only looks distinctly indie, but the atmosphere is fundamentally more delightfully peculiar than the half-decaf, nonfat soy frappuccino-slinging monotony of the chain coffeehouses. Whereas you can always get your gluten-free, taste-free Marshmallow Dream Bar at any of the 23,179 Starbucks, if you come back to Pagoda for one of the pressed Chisesi ham, brie, and blood-orange marmalade sandwiches you had on your last visit, you may have to “settle” for the vegetarian banh mi of beets, pickled vegetables, and an Indian-style chutney—the menu changes often. The breakfast and lunch offerings are consistently delicious, fresh, and always affordable.
Info
Address 1430 N Dorgenois Street, New Orleans, LA 70119, +1 504.644.4178, www.pagodacafe.net | Hours Tue–Sat 7am–4pm, Sun 9am–3pm| Tip Pagoda Café is situated at the intersection of Broad St and Bayou Rd, the base of the “Bayou Corridor,” home to CoCo Hut (Jamaican takeout food), Community Book Center (a collection of books by and about African Americans), Domino Sound (the largest selection of reggae 45s and LPs in the South), and Club Caribbean (a reggae club featuring DJs and biweekly live shows).
More, much more, than the coffee and the food, the “happenings” at Pagoda Café are the real draw for customers, much like the Greenwich Village coffeehouses of the beat generation. On a recent Sunday, there were two fiddlers playing Appalachian folk music, an artisan baker selling bread from the back of a truck, and a pop-up bicycle repair. Pagoda also hosts after-hours reggae dance parties from 6pm to 9pm on the first Sunday of each month.
Like any good coffeehouse, there is an oversized note board with pinned flyers and business cards. Pagoda’s board, however, has fewer apartment rental notices and write-your-term-paper ads and more African Helix stitch lessons and hoodoo rootwork offerings.
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