Nolia Kitchen

The Restaurant

Jeffery Harris started cooking at four, at the elbow of his great-grandmother Jimmie Lou Green in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. Hurricane Katrina took the house in 2005, and he left on a Greyhound for Cincinnati with no plan to stay. He stayed. After years on the line — first at Orchids at Palm Court under Todd Kelly, then running catering at the Cincinnati Zoo — he opened Nolia on Clay Street, in the Pendleton edge of Over-the-Rhine, in April 2022. The name and the cooking both point home.

The Kitchen

What Harris cooks is not Louisiana nostalgia but Louisiana argued forward. The duck-and-oyster gumbo is taken apart and rebuilt around popcorn rice and a duck-fat roux, a dish a Tremé grandmother would recognise and then raise an eyebrow at. The skillet cornbread, the room's darling, lands hot with a scoop of butter whipped with Steen's cane syrup, the Louisiana pantry staple that signals a kitchen sourcing seriously. Crab boulettes, black-eyed peas, sweet-potato donuts and a bread pudding fill out a menu overhauled with the seasons and, unusually, served entirely gluten-free. Entrées sit around $45 to $50; on Thursdays Harris runs the 1405 Tasting in two seatings, a longer chef's sequence for those who want him to lead.

The recognition has piled up fast. The James Beard Foundation made Nolia a national finalist for Outstanding New Restaurant in 2023; Esquire put it on its 50 Best New Restaurants list the same year; Cincinnati Magazine ranked it the city's No. 2 Best New Restaurant in 2024; and in 2026 Harris returned to the Beard shortlist as a finalist for Best Chef: Great Lakes. For a Black-owned New Orleans kitchen in a converted brick storefront, it is the most consequential opening the city has seen this decade.

The Room

Nolia is a small room in a brick Over-the-Rhine storefront, a short walk from Findlay Market, and it fills: reservations run close to mandatory, especially on Thursdays and weekends. Dress is smart-casual — this is a neighbourhood dining room with serious cooking, not a white-tablecloth shrine. Service is Harris's own register: warm, unhurried, New Orleans in temperament. Dinner runs Wednesday through Sunday.

Frequently Asked

Is Nolia Kitchen worth it?

Yes — it is the most acclaimed restaurant in Cincinnati right now. Chef Jeffery Harris cooks the New Orleans food he grew up on, and the James Beard Foundation has made him a finalist twice, most recently for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2026. Entrées run about $45 to $50, fair for cooking of this ambition. Go hungry and order the skillet cornbread and the gumbo.

How hard is it to book Nolia Kitchen?

Harder than most Cincinnati tables, because the room is small. Book two to three weeks ahead through the restaurant's site for a weekend dinner. Thursdays bring the 1405 Tasting, a longer chef's menu offered in two seatings that books out first. If you can't land a prime slot, an early weeknight dinner is the easiest way in. More sit in our Cincinnati dining guide.

What should I order at Nolia Kitchen?

Start with the skillet cornbread — it arrives hot with butter whipped with Steen's cane syrup and is the dish regulars come back for. The duck-and-oyster gumbo, rebuilt around popcorn rice and a duck-fat roux, is Harris's signature reinvention. Crab boulettes and black-eyed peas are reliable, and the bread pudding closes it well. The menu changes by season, so treat the list as a guide.

Where is Nolia Kitchen and what does it cost?

Nolia is at 1405 Clay Street, in the Pendleton corner of Over-the-Rhine, a short walk from Findlay Market. It serves dinner Wednesday through Sunday, with entrées around $45 to $50 and the Thursday 1405 Tasting for those who want the full chef's sequence. The whole menu is gluten-free, unusually, and dress is smart-casual.

Who is the chef at Nolia Kitchen?

Jeffery Harris, a New Orleans native who learned to cook from his great-grandmother Jimmie Lou Green in the Ninth Ward. He came to Cincinnati after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, cooked at Orchids at Palm Court under Todd Kelly, and opened Nolia on Clay Street in 2022. He is a two-time James Beard nominee.