A trip to Africa inspired a restaurant. What to expect — and what you must try — at Latha

Evelia Davis opened Latha — Swahili for flavor — at Heritage Square in April to bring a taste of African culture and cuisine to Phoenix. Located inside the Silva House, it's part of the Diaspora Collective, a space that includes a soko (market), a restaurant and a bar. With it, she hopes to share the story of the pan-African diaspora.

It all began with a trip to Africa in 2012.

"It gave me a sense of belonging and connection," she said, "and that's what I want others to feel."

Davis returned to Africa a few more times, and when she returned from her most recent trip in 2020, she invited people to her house to share the cuisine and African products she had experienced. Seeing how people who didn't know each other well came together over food, Davis decided to open Latha.

Two years later, guests are greeted at a host stand emblazoned with the word "welcome" in 16 different African languages, such as Swahili, Spanish and Arabic. It sets the tone with a nod to the first sentence Davis heard when she visited Africa: "Welcome home, my sister."

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A restaurant designed with intention

Short steps lead to a patio with sofas and coffee tables and a few scattered high tops with enough seating for 60. Live music adds to the ambiance on weekends.

Inside, the restaurant foyer is dominated by a 6-foot map of Africa. Other design elements are either sourced from local artists, like the chandelier, or from artisans in Africa.

Hints of mud-cloth-inspired designs are a recurring theme. Mud cloth, a Malian cotton fabric traditionally dyed with fermented mud, is used in ceremonies, the distinct designs handed down from mothers to daughters as a way to pass on stories or commemorate historical events or local heroes. At Latha, it's just one of many details meant to start conversations.

It appears again in the chandelier's drum and in the wallpaper, patterned in rust, orange and white.

"We are not specific to a certain country, but wanted to represent diaspora as a whole," explained Beth Katz of Katz Design Group, who designed the space.

To the right of the foyer are two interconnecting dining rooms, able to accommodate an intimate 14 guests each. If it's connection Davis was seeking, this setup delivers. The rooms are small enough that people can talk to those seated at the nearby tables. Davis said she has already witnessed her intention in action, when two women invited a third to join their table for dinner.

And a dinner at Latha tells a story of its own.

Latha's chef is a history buff, and it shows on the plate

During a recent visit, chef and co-owner Digby Stridiron walked out of the kitchen in a pinstriped blue apron. Tattooed arms jutted out of a cobalt blue T-shirt. The words love and sacrifice were etched on his left arm and three names on the right, interspersed with palm trees, flowers and ingredients he loves to cook with, like habanero, passion fruit and sorrel.

He explained that the word love is from his days in the military and a reminder to always love first. Sacrifice is a "constant reminder that nothing good comes easily and with sacrifices I push myself as hard as I can." Orisha, an African deity, Atabey the Taino, goddess of fertility, and his mother's name are odes to the matriarchal society he comes from.

The official U.S. Virgin Islands culinary ambassador, Stridiron is originally from Puerto Rico, but grew up in St. Croix, where he opened two restaurants, Balter and Braata.

"When Food and Wine called the restaurant 'the heart of Caribbean cooking,' I could die happy," Stridiron said of the accolades he received for Braata.

Stridiron values local and sustainable styles of cooking, and likes to adapt his menus to suit the terrain and season. He's inspired by history and foodways.

"If I weren't cooking, I'd be a high school history teacher," Stridiron said.

He explained that as a particular dish moves from one place to another, carried by people who try to recreate a taste of home, the name and even some ingredients change as they adapt to new environments and cultures. "It was ki ngombo for okra in West Africa. In St. Croix, it's kalalou, mofongo in Puerto Rico, because of plantains, and gumbo in New Orleans," he said.

He brings that awareness to the Latha kitchen.

"I don’t want to force ingredients that don't belong, but at the end of the day, food does travel, right?" he said. "The food became that food because it was moving."

And the same could be said about the diaspora itself.

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Bringing the flavors of the Caribbean, Africa and the American South to Phoenix

Stridiron allows for improvisation and is excited by the way dishes evolve over time and miles. Tomato for example didn't originate in Italy, he said, but is now a staple in Italian food. And the African diaspora's cuisine has always had to adapt to new terrains.

"I get excited when I see chefs in America cook Caribbean-American food, because it changes when it gets to America. Like jerk sauce does not exist in the Caribbean. But in New York, people couldn't smoke the meat, so they added the flavor back with jerk sauce."

He's not overly permissive, though. "At the end of the day, jerk chicken has to taste like jerk chicken with ginger, allspice and habanero, whether it's with fire or spices."

At Latha, he's exploring these transformations with flavors from the Caribbean, African countries and the American South, sometimes in the same dish.

"I'm trying to be as honest as I can with the cooking," Stridiron said. "Rather than separating the regions, I wanted to bring us all to the table."

The Latha experience begins with the beverage program

The cocktail menu is a collaboration between the chef and Latha's manager, Will Brazil, former bartender at the Phoenician Resort who also owns his own hospitality business.

"The goal is to reduce food waste, so we are constantly thinking of repurposing food," Brazil said. For example, extra plantains are turned into a plantain simple syrup that's used in the ever-changing Old Fashioned. The current version is made with a turmeric simple syrup.

The Ethiopian Jenny is a variation on the Moscow mule, made with banana, vodka, lemon and ginger beer.

And the showstopper is the Upendo, which means love, made with a float of ruby sorrel tea, yellow muddled pineapple and a Caribbean pineapple liqueur — sunset in a glass.

The team also partners with many Black-owned wine and spirit purveyors, like Black Girl Magic wine and Uncle Nearest whiskey.

They also have a signature mocktail made with enroot, a beverage crafted by a group of James Beard chefs, including Stridiron, using ayurvedic botanicals, fresh fruit and loose tea leaves. At Latha, they add agave and lime and serve it with a dehydrated fruit wheel.

The drinks range from $14 to $16 and are designed to pair well with the bold flavors coming out of Stridiron's kitchen.

What's on the menu at Latha

The Latha menu will change based on what's available, both in terms of sourcing and seasonality, Stridiron said. "It will dig into every region, pulling them together."

Appetizers range from $15 to $18, and currently include Moroccan dips like hummus and goat cheese spread served with housemade chapati. On the next menu, he plans to add Trinidadian baigan choka, a roasted eggplant dip made with garlic, onions and peppers.

Small plates or sahani ndogo are priced from $15 to 18 and currently include piri piri wings made with pineapple, zaatar, sesame and lemon and salad palmiste. The salad is his take on an East African dish, made with heart of palms, dates, orange supremes, rocket, charred cashew, olives, herbed avocado and orange vinaigrette.

Mains or kuu cost $30 to $32, with dishes that range from Southern staples like fried chicken with mac and cheese to shrimp moqueca, a Brazilian seafood stew that's tinged with Creole influence.

At Latha, the moqueca is served in a shallow wooden bowl with creamy coconut rice grits. Rice found its way to the South, including South Carolina and Georgia, when the colonists noticed Madagascar seed rice grew well in the soil. Carolina Gold rice would win the hearts of all and become a main export, but part of its grains would fracture. These discarded, damaged grains were used to make rice grits.

Stridiron said he fell in love with the product, which he sources from Congaree and Penn Farm in Florida where it's milled before shipping.

The moqueca is topped with Haitian pickled red onions, with a nod to Puerto Rico in the form of capers and olives and dollops of Cuban mojito sauce. Delicate, shredded plantains and roasted broccolini finish the dish.

Stridiron loves seafood and it shows. The shrimp are cooked perfectly. The grits melt in the mouth and the rich moqueca tingles with hints of habanero. Pickled onions, capers and olives offer brightness and levity. No one ingredient dominates and the harmony makes it feel like comfort food you could happily enjoy every day.

With every bite, the chef communicates his respect for the ingredients, for the multicultural heritage he shares with others in the diaspora and his intention to create the kind of food that makes people feel included and seen.

Like everything else about Latha, his dishes seem to say, "Welcome home."

How to visit Latha at The Diaspora Collective

Reservations are available through lathaphx.com.

Hours: Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m. Closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

There are plans to add Tuesday dinner and Sunday brunch in the future.

Details: 628 E. Adams St., Phoenix. lathaphx.com.

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Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Latha restaurant is open in downtown Phoenix. Here's what to order