Why nola: coffee & deli?

Starting from scratch never tasted so good.

If you recognise the slogan of this blog post, it's probably because you have excellent taste in movies. It's the tagline from Chef, the feel-good comedy written by and starring Jon Favreau. The story of a chef who quits his job at a prestigious restaurant and launches a food-truck business, changing his life forever. After watching the movie for the first time, I wanted to quit my job, buy a food truck and sell grilled cheese sandwiches whilst listening to the Hot 8 Brass Band cover Marvin Gaye. But I daren't.

Flash forward a few years to February 2020.

Flora and I are on holiday in New Orleans. This city features heavily in the movie and is the spot for foodies in America. During this time, I decided food and drink would be my future, and I wanted to bring a sense of New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA for short) home with me.

Enjoying a beignet at Cafe Du Monde, New Orleans.

But upon our return to the UK, the world changed.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, though. Lockdown allowed me to make a change and try something new. I spent my time cooking foods from our travels, baking cakes, and I'm not going to lie, watching a lot of basketball. As life returned to normal, we moved house, got married, and I reduced my hours at work to start A Shaw Thing, my pop-up food business specialising in fried chicken.

Daniel at A Shaw Thing pop-up.

Then we found a location in Burton Joyce, and the rest is history. 

nola: coffee & deli opens soon on Main Street, Burton Joyce. It will be a welcoming, personable place to enjoy a great coffee. As well as coffee, we will offer an exclusive range of homemade salads, sandwiches, cakes and treats to eat-in and takeaway.

Homemade sticky toffee cake, biscoff cookies & cherry bakewell cookie bar.

For all enquiries, please email Daniel at daniel@nolanotts.co.uk.