Tag: Le Bilboquet

Oasis is an appropriate word to describe Verdure Kitchen and Cocktails. A hidden gem nestled in Midtown, the fine-dining African restaurant brings life to Atlanta with its lush decor and flavorful cuisine that tells a crafted story of the continent’s culture. Verdure recently celebrated its second anniversary, and executive chef Jean Louis-Sangare has been painting a picture of a place he calls home through farm-to-table ingredients, unique spices, tried-and-true techniques, and culinary fusion. 

Hailing from Côte d’Ivoire, Sangare’s love of food began in the comfort of his home, watching his mother, Adele, as she hovered over stoves and handled kitchen knives to cook Sangare’s favorite Ivorian dishes. Those memories planted the seed for him to pursue a culinary education in Paris. He went on to earn the title of chef de cuisine at Le Bilboquet’s New York outpost for 15 years before traveling down south to take the helm as executive chef of the French bistro’s Atlanta location. 

When the idea of Verdure began to come to life in July 2023 with restaurateurs Aïda Lemma and Jacob Ilkner, he knew it was his chance to shine a light on African cuisine in a way that brought more eyes and stomachs to what the cuisine is and could be. 

“It’s a blessing to see that the first African fine dining opening in Atlanta has success. And it means a lot to me, because it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for many years, even when I was working in the French kitchen. So, I’ve been thinking about one day elevating African cuisine to the same level as French cuisine,” Sangare said as he sat in a chair dimly lit by warm, ambient lighting. 

He’d taken a short break from the kitchen, where he’d been slicing, dicing, sautéing, and plating dishes for the guests who regularly come through the restaurant’s doors. It’s become a popular selection for date nights, birthdays, and large social gatherings, which are often serenaded by a live saxophonist playing renditions of Afrobeats hits. 

“I’m so proud to represent the continent of Africa in the culinary industry, and it means a lot to me because I always want to show other people who have never been in Africa how much Africa has beautiful food, beautiful cuisine, and also using the same technique to bring African dishes to a new level.”

Atlanta and its surrounding neighborhoods are teeming with African cuisine, from the continent’s east coast to the west. These restaurants boast some of Africa’s most popular dishes, such as pounded yams, egusi soup, attieke, thieboudienne, waakye, doro wat, and jollof rice in all its iterations. For Sangare, his focus was on highlighting the ingredients and dishes from countries such as the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Kenya, South Africa, and Morocco, and fusing them with Western and other cultural cuisines in a less casual setting. 

A big part of what makes African cuisine so distinct is its fresh and bold ingredients and spices, which are, more often than not, tied to its local landscape. Every dish has similarities, yet are all still distinct and made with a diverse set of culinary techniques that can be traced to its own cultural heritage and traditions. Sangare is taking those beloved dishes and bringing them to the tables of Atlanta. 

“I use all the ingredients that we have in Africa, and also the cuisine that is expanding in different regions in Africa, to bring that to fine dining. For example, we use dried okra, make it as a powder, and do a sauce with that,” Sangare said. “What makes that special is the ingredients we don’t find everywhere. Secondly, the colorfulness of the ingredients is also important. 

“Each ingredient has unique flavors from different regions, but most regions have a similar cuisine; the flavor and aroma are just different. We do something that nobody has tried before. There’s a cultural band because each region of Africa has this unique culture that goes with their food.”

The menu is a melting pot, with dinner and brunch menus that feature dishes such as shrimp and avocado plantain bites, Nigerian spiced crab cakes, chicken yassa lollipops, roasted egusi hummus, Ethiopian honey-glazed sea bass, grilled pri-pri chicken, tiger shrimp and garri grits, and shakshuka, to name a few. It’s a culinary adventure that isn’t afraid to embrace and reinvent. 

It’s made even more exciting by its craft cocktails and upscale yet warm setting, which transports you to your own personal garden. In the years to come, Sangare said he hopes to expand Verdure to cities such as Miami, New York, and D.C. 

“We want to represent Africa in different states.”

Related