Where to find a taste of the Deep South in London

Sample the delights of dishes from the southern USA in Waterloo and Brixton, says Rosamund Urwin
Ridiculously tasty: some of the food on offer at Slap Ya Papa
Rosamund Urwin11 September 2015

The Deep South is coming to the capital’s Not-so-deep South.

Next week, the Vaults in Waterloo will morph into a New Orleans microcosm — big flavours, flowing Bourbon and the blues — as the supper club Slap Ya Papa launches the Bayou Banquet, a fortnight-long residency.

Fast-forward a month and head a little deeper south and Brixton will be getting its own branch of The Blues Kitchen, where you can eat smoked brisket and St Louis pork ribs to a backing track of live soul artists.

The food of the Deep South — from cornbread to buttermilk-fried chicken — is famously soul-soothing. “It’s about sharing,” says Lucie Massey, who runs Slap Ya Papa (slapyapapa.co.uk for tickets). “Its root are in communal pots, and an open kitchen where you would never not be welcomed or fed. The food is also ridiculously tasty — lots of lip-smacking things.”

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The Bayou Banquet dishes will be cooked by chefs who’ve worked at Michelin starred-restaurants Le Manoir and Seven Park Place. On the menu there’ll be Gumbo, a one-pot stew, and pulled pork that’s been slow-cooked for eight hours and is served as a communal dish, falling off the bone, with dirty rice. Brunch means eggs, grits and andouille sausage that has been made from scratch by the Slap Ya Papa team.

But Massey isn’t content with getting the food right: she wants walking into the railway arches to feel as though you’ve landed in Louisiana. “The residency has snowballed into a festival of culture,” she says. “I want to promote New Orleans as a cultural hub. It’s the epicentre of American music, jazz’s birthplace, and the food and music are entwined. We’re also collaborating with an art collective, Marbles and Ware, to do immersive events.”

Errol Linton, thrice-crowned UK harmonica champion, will play one night, and for the last three days Mad Men and 12 Years a Slave star Bryan Batt will be telling stories about his hometown of New Orleans, raising money to help local charities to mark 10 years since Hurricane Katrina.

Massey launched Slap Ya Papa (or Slap Ya Mamma, as it was called then) just over two years ago after she’d taken a break from work to go travelling and ended up in New Orleans: “If you’re into food and music, it’s holy.” The business started out doing dinners for 25 or 30 people in “someone’s flat” and is now going to be the first residency in The Vaults’ “permanent pop-up space” (yes, that does sound oxymoronic).

Meanwhile, over in Brixton, new dishes at The Blues Kitchen will include Pig and Biscuits — buttery breads topped with pulled pork, duck eggs and bacon — and Cajun catfish jambalaya.

The north (of the river that is), already has its own taste of the Deep South too. Last month the Lockhart in Marylebone launched its new all-American cocktail bar, Showdown. You can wash down deviled eggs, catfish goujons or shrimp and grits with drinks including “Ice Tee” with moonshine, maple and lemon green tea; the long “Pick it Lick it” with rye whiskey, pickled watermelon and pecan soda and a “house popcorn gin” with absinthe, birch, sencha and lemon oil.

So go soak up some Southern hospitality and soothe your soul with ribs and wings.

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