Notes From The City: An Abundant Life

One day last summer, a woman who I had been introduced to by email but had never met in person suggested that we meet at Ohlala!, a restaurant on Bergen Avenue in Jersey City. It happened to be Bastille Day, and she said it was a French Cafe, and because I'm always interested in finding out about new places and my mother had always celebrated Bastille Day, I said I'd meet her there. When I looked up the address I knew exactly the area where it was because a friend has a gallery a few steps away and I had also gone to other events at other friends' spaces nearby over the years. But I couldn't picture Ohlala!, and when I made my way over for the meeting, I realized that it had seemingly sprung up overnight, like a beautiful flower that blooms after a spring rain. And indeed Ohlala! has the feeling of springtime, even on the hot summer day when I first went there and again on a cooler day in early October when I stopped by again as I planned to write this post. Plants fill the windows and there is a lovely jewelbox like quality in the charming space inside. It is not large, but it feels somehow very comfortable, as if you could sit back and relax while you take in the delicious tastes and lovely sights all around you.

Started by friends who had an idea of wanting to create a community space with wonderful French inspired food, Ohlala! has one of the best Chefs in town behind the counter. The first time I went there, Fallou made me the most delicious chicken curry I've had, so delicious in fact that when I went back, though I wanted to try other things, I had to have that curry again. I'm sure that everything he makes is wonderful, and I know I'll want to go back to try everything, because the other dishes I tried on my two visits, in addition to the lovely curry, were that wonderful combination of being homemade but having that extra special something that only a true Chef can create. As I've written in these pages before, I love to cook and I'm very good at it, but I know when I'm eating at the table of a Chef of another level, and the meals Fallou is making are extraordinary.

When I first went to Ohlala! they did not have a liquor license, but now they serve wine. And along with the regular meal times they have special occasions and special dinners that reflect different holiday seasons and times of the year. One thing that I wanted to try when I was there the first time was sold out, and when I had it on my second visit I could understand why. Fallou's Banana Pudding is the perfect combination of custard and fresh bananas, sweet enough to be a desert to love but not too sweet or heavy in any way. I had taken it to go and at home with coffee the next morning, its perfect lightness and depth of flavor made my morning routine seem like it had been magically charmed. With Fallou in the kitchen, the lovely decor, plants all around and friendly and helpful staff, Ohlala! French Kitchen is a perfect place to go where every day is a beautiful one and everything, like their motto says, is made with love.

Ohlala! French Kitchen

688 Bergen Avenue

Jersey City, New Jersey

http://iloveohlala.com/