Omnivore - Noni’s Bar and Deli brings Italian to the Old 4th Ward
Back in March, I declared that Dynamic Dish was a canary in the coal mine for Edgewood Avenue, and to see that restaurant thrive boded well for the street in general. Today, Dynamic Dish is still alive and well, and a slew of other new restaurants have sprouted, or are about to sprout up, along the moderately bedraggled avenue. I’m tempted, this time, to resist expounding upon fast-track gentrification’s numerous dichotomies. But with Noni’s Bar and Deli, the elegant scene inside clashes so entirely with the somewhat depressing and somewhat endearing street life outside, I’d be doing a disservice by refusing to mention it.
Yes, Edgewood Avenue is changing. And no, it has not changed that much. You may be asked for money by a woman with her wig askew, and the handsome young men who frequent the barber shop a few doors down may be lounging on your car by the time you come to retrieve it. But stepping into Noni’s is like stepping through a portal into another ... well, not another world, but certainly another part of town.
(Photo by James Camp)