By Monique Roth
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Hillsborough, N.C., has gotten a whole lot tastier with the opening of LaPlace Louisiana Cookery, a restaurant owned and operated by LaPlace native Joe Tullos, his wife Andrea and business partner Matt Fox. 

Born and raised in LaPlace, Tullos attended St. Joan of Arc and St. Charles Catholic High School before going to Loyola for college. He and his wife moved to North Carolina in 1999 and ran another restaurant, Gulf Rim Café, for seven-and-a-half years before deciding to launch a new concept with LaPlace.

“I just wanted to focus on what I knew best,” said Tullos. 

He said he wanted to give credit to the town that he learned to cook in and that has inspired so many of the dishes that he now creates.

Old photographs of LaPlace line the walls of the eatery, and “the restaurant is an acknowledgement to the town and is about how special it is,” said Tullos.

Tullos said he learned how to make andouille and sausage by growing up in the River Region, and he now makes the andouille and sausage that is served at LaPlace Louisiana Cookery.

The restaurant also features a retail component that allows patrons to purchase a variety of andouille and sausages, including shrimp and duck sausage, to take home and cook themselves. Other Cajun favorites, such as tasso, are also sold. 

Additionally, the sausage Tullos creates is also sold to other restaurants for them to prepare it in their own signature dishes.

“The River Parishes has always had a brilliant culinary background,” said Tullos. “These recipes are sacred.”

Tullos said he is honored to serve food that he learned to cook back home. Menu options include boudin balls, shrimp remoulade, crawfish étouffée, rabbit sauce piquant and a variety of po boys. In addition to five Abita beers on tap, the restaurant’s bar also serves New Orleans-born cocktails such as the sazerac and hurricane.

Opened on Feb. 11, LaPlace is slammed busy most of the time, said Tullos. He said the town locals, as well as tourists, are really taking the concept, and most importantly, the food.

“It’s also really nice when LaPlace locals show up too,” laughed Tullos. 

For more information about the restaurant, visit www.laplacehillsborough.com.

All photographs courtesy of Craven Creative Photography.