Akiem Jones, chef and owner of Plant Bass Vegan Deli 

Akiem Jones, chef and owner of Plant Bass Vegan Deli 

Growing up in New Orleans, Akiem Jones always had a knack for cooking meat-free dishes without skimping on spices and flavor, thanks to lessons from her vegetarian mom.

A few years ago, she left a job working in the corporate medical field and decided to reignite her passion for cooking and turn it into a new career. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a few wrenches in her plans to open a neighborhood restaurant back in 2020, but she used the shutdown time to hone old family recipes at home and develop new ones with her partner Corey Mathis. 

Five months ago, Plant Bass Vegan Deli opened as a casual spot in Algiers that serves meat-free takes on New Orleans classics and other comfort dishes in addition to lighter fare.

“This is how I cook at home, and I wanted to bring it to the community to the West Bank,” Jones says. “I just promised myself I’m going to have fun with it, and I think it shows in my food. People understand that I’m doing it because I love it, and my customers tell me they can taste the love in my food.”

Akiem Jones: I’m from New Orleans, so my family cooks. That’s just what we do here. Everyone cooks — I was just about born in the kitchen. My mom taught me. My family isn’t entirely plant-based, but my mother was a vegetarian for a very long time, so that lifestyle was very familiar to me. I love to eat; I just have never been a big fan of meat. Six years ago, I decided to go completely 100% vegan. I’ve always been a pasta girl, a rice girl, so it was an easy transition for me to weed out cheese and other dairy products. Plus, the vegan cheeses are getting so much better. I tweaked some of my family recipes (for the restaurant). My inspiration was to live a little healthier without (consuming) animal flesh.

Jones: We focus on fun foods. We focus on sandwiches and wraps, and eventually when it gets cooler here, we will bring back gumbos and soups. We also have vegan pizzas and fried foods, like mushroom and eggplant appetizers — those are big sellers, and we have salads. Our No. 1 seller is the vegan hot sausage po-boy. It’s the best in the city. It took me a while to master that, because working with plant-based meats isn’t easy. You have to make sure it bonds well, and that it doesn’t break apart. I probably wake up every morning around 5 o’clock to come in and prepare the hot sausage daily. That’s the trick with plants — they don’t have a long shelf life, so we prep new sausages every day. For the sausage, we use an Impossible [brand] meat base, but the rest of the recipe is a secret. Everyone wants the recipe.

The deli has a really cozy vibe. We have a nice courtyard. It’s a family atmosphere. It’s small but it’s cozy. I promise when you walk in, you can feel the love.

A dream long in the making.

Jones: That it doesn’t taste good. A lot of the plant-based meats get a bad rap. But we have fun vegan food that tastes really good. It’s to the point where you don’t even miss eating meat when you come to our restaurant. We use the same spices that you’d use on a piece of beef. The good New Orleans spices that everyone loves, we just incorporate that into the plants.

For more information visit plantbassdeli.com. 

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include information about Corey Mathis. 

Theaudric Davis told us about learning to cook, his festival menus and building a business.

Akiem Jones: I’m from New Orleans, so my family cooks. That’s just what we do here. Everyone cooks — I was just about born in the kitchen. My mom taught me. My family isn’t entirely plant-based, but my mother was a vegetarian for a very long time, so that lifestyle was very familiar to me. I love to eat; I just have never been a big fan of meat. Six years ago, I decided to go completely 100% vegan. I’ve always been a pasta girl, a rice girl, so it was an easy transition for me to weed out cheese and other dairy products. Plus, the vegan cheeses are getting so much better. I tweaked some of my family recipes (for the restaurant). My inspiration was to live a little healthier without (consuming) animal flesh.

Jones: We focus on fun foods. We focus on sandwiches and wraps, and eventually when it gets cooler here, we will bring back gumbos and soups. We also have vegan pizzas and fried foods, like mushroom and eggplant appetizers — those are big sellers, and we have salads. Our No. 1 seller is the vegan hot sausage po-boy. It’s the best in the city. It took me a while to master that, because working with plant-based meats isn’t easy. You have to make sure it bonds well, and that it doesn’t break apart. I probably wake up every morning around 5 o’clock to come in and prepare the hot sausage daily. That’s the trick with plants — they don’t have a long shelf life, so we prep new sausages every day. For the sausage, we use an Impossible [brand] meat base, but the rest of the recipe is a secret. Everyone wants the recipe.

The deli has a really cozy vibe. We have a nice courtyard. It’s a family atmosphere. It’s small but it’s cozy. I promise when you walk in, you can feel the love.

A dream long in the making.

Jones: That it doesn’t taste good. A lot of the plant-based meats get a bad rap. But we have fun vegan food that tastes really good. It’s to the point where you don’t even miss eating meat when you come to our restaurant. We use the same spices that you’d use on a piece of beef. The good New Orleans spices that everyone loves, we just incorporate that into the plants.

For more information visit plantbassdeli.com. 

Theaudric Davis told us about learning to cook, his festival menus and building a business.

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