Chef Alon Shaya and his wife Emily have launched Safta’s Table, a new counter-service café in New Orleans' Lakeview neighborhood, offering Mediterranean flavors from breakfast through dinner. The restaurant emphasizes fresh pita and family-inspired dishes in a retro-modern setting. It serves as a tribute to Shaya’s late grandmother, with some recipes drawn directly from her kitchen.
Safta’s Table opened this week in the West Lake Shore Shopping Center, near the lakefront marinas in New Orleans' Lakeview neighborhood. The casual eatery, part of Alon and Emily Shaya’s Pomegranate Hospitality group, operates as an all-day café with counter service, blending elements of a deli and diner. Diners can enjoy breakfast sandwiches on fresh pita, such as those with pastrami, or quick snacks like garlic confit-topped pita alongside coffee or spritzes.
Pita remains central to the menu, hot from a visible oven, pairing with hummus plates, mezze samplers of dips and pickles, or as the base for specialties like the chicken schnitzel sandwich. This sandwich features a juicy cutlet with pickles, Green Goddess aioli, and tzatziki slaw with fennel and herbs. Other highlights include spinach and feta borekas from family recipes, lutenitsa spread, ikra dip with salmon roe, lamb ragu hummus, slow-cooked lamb with sides like ginger-spiked jasmine rice and baba ghanoush, and Atlantic salmon with jasmine rice.
The design evokes a retro-modern balance with clean lines, big windows, and durable plastic trays reminiscent of mid-century cafeterias. Indoor tables suit family brunches, while a counter accommodates laptop users and a partially sheltered patio offers outdoor seating. A grab-and-go case stocks take-home items like chicken pot pies, lasagna, eggplant parmesan, and chicken noodle soup.
Named after Shaya’s grandmother—Safta in Hebrew, the late Matilda Gerassi—the restaurant draws inspiration from her. The logo depicts her as a pomegranate in a kerchief, and dishes aim for 'grandmother comfort food,' as Shaya said. 'We wanted the whole menu to have that feeling of grandmother comfort food,' he added. The flavors span Mediterranean regions, including Greek and Italian, with some items adapted from Shaya’s upscale restaurant Saba.
'We want to fit the food into people’s everyday lives,' Shaya said. The kitchen, led by Chef Omar Ortega, produces challah and baked goods like baklava, tahini-swirled chocolate chip cookies, and tiramisu cups; bagels come from Flour Moon Bagels. Beverages include wines, cocktails, beer, zero-proof options, cappuccinos, and a 'kiddocino' for children. Kid-friendly touches feature paper menus for coloring, pita pizzas, buttered noodles, and sticker sets. Cut flower bouquets are also available.
Safta’s Table is at 129 Allen Toussaint Blvd., open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., extending to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Marie Guevara serves as general manager, and the site now bases Pomegranate’s catering operations.