JusLa Eats owner Chef Lala Harrison is preparing for her biggest adventure yet. After over a year of delivering premium, home-cooked food to Oakland residents in need during the Covid-19 Pandemic, Chef Harrison is finally ready to establish a permeant brick-and-mortar restaurant in Temescal this fall.
Roux40, Harrison’s new restaurant concept, promises to be a celebration of Black heritage and cuisine. Citing Jessica B. Harris’s groundbreaking culinary history chronicle High on the Hog as inspiration, Harrison wants to dig deeper into the history of Black cuisine in America and share it with a new audience.
Roux40 will offer unique takes on traditional classics, like red beans & rice with sweet potato and charred scallion, and vegan gumbo with collard greens and chickpeas. Chief among Chef Harrison’s priorities is ensuring that equity is maintained at every level of production.
In addition to prioritizing the hiring of young women of color at her restaurant, Harrison will also be sourcing her food from Brown Girl Farms, an equity-focused farm founded by Ashlee Johnson-Geisse that preserves the practices of “African Indigenous Agroecology.”
Roux40 will be moving into the former space of Magpie and Hog’s Apothecary at 375 40th Street. Chef Harrison is currently aiming to launch her Grand Opening early this October. Bolstered by the support of her community, Harrison is currently running a Go Fund Me for her new restaurant. Crowdfunding is necessary to preserve the independence of Roux40, as Harrison is concerned about potential investors trying to take over the restaurant and change its core vision.
To help keep Roux40 independently owned and operated, try ordering something from Harrison’s catering service, JusLa Eats. If you like what you get, consider donating to Roux40’s Go Fund Me to make sure it sticks around for a long time to come.
