The owners of Baton Rouge’s three City Pork restaurants are bringing the Poké concept to Baton Rouge with a new restaurant called Southfin Southern Poké in the Southdowns Shopping Center space formerly occupied by Truly Free Bakery.
“It’s a Hawaiian fish concept,” says CP Hospitality Group co-owner Stephen Hightower. “It’s kind of the polar opposite of City Pork.”
Poké is a staple in Hawaii. The word itself in Hawaiian translates to “to cut” or “to dice,” and the dish typically consists of cuts of marinated sushi-grade fish—usually ahi tuna—atop rice, salad or noodles in a bowl. It’s a concept that has been gaining traction with foodies and restaurants in major U.S. cities in recent years.
Hightower and his business partner, Trey Williams, have been working to bring a Poké concept restaurant to Baton Rouge for about a year. They took trips to Los Angeles and Chicago to research the concept with corporate chefs Ryan Andre and Eusebio Gongora.
“We try to stay on top of the latest thing and this is something we feel will be a really good fit here in Baton Rouge,” Hightower says. “It’s a versatile concept and it’s healthy, and we want to try to capitalize by adding to our versatility as a hospitality group.”
Hightower and Williams hope to have the restaurant open in December or January. It will replace Truly Free Bakery in the shopping center on Perkins Road. The bakery closed in April, with its owners citing a dispute with the shopping center owner as the cause.
Southfin Southern Poké will source as much of its fish as possible from the Gulf of Mexico, Hightower says. Diners will have the option to build their own Poké bowl or select from those on the menu. Along with ahi tuna, proteins available for the bowls will include shrimp, salmon and chicken. There will also be vegetarian options.
“The flavor profiles are going to be a great fit in Baton Rouge, with fresh fish and local ingredients,” says Hightower, “and I just think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
This morning’s announcement comes a little more than three months after City Pork co-founder Chase Lyons announced he was splitting from Hightower and Williams to pursue new opportunities.
The original restaurant, City Pork Deli and Charcuterie, opened on Hollydale Avenue under Interstate 10 in the Perkins Road overpass neighborhood in December 2013. One year later, the trio opened City Pork Brasserie & Bar on Jefferson Highway, followed by City Pork Kitchen and Pie on Exchequer Drive last December.
—Steve Sanoski
