How an American’s football passion led him to Liverpool to open a New Orleans restaurant

Louisiana-born Reggie Pulliam became a fan of Everton when he was still at school in the US, long before he’d ever visited the UK.

But now that passion for the Blues has taken him on a journey to Liverpool where he’s about to open his first restaurant, dedicated to dishes from his New Orleans home.

Along with business partner and fellow chef Adam Williams, 41-year-old Reggie is launching SuSu’s New Orleans Kitchen on Victoria Street on Monday (June 9). 

The restaurant, inside Molly Malone’s, will serve authentic cuisine using many original recipes from Reggie’s mother Susan, known as SuSu, and Adam’s grandmother.

In fact family plays such an important part in SuSu’s New Orleans Kitchen that even the logo, featuring an over-sized red hat, is a reference to the Sunday church hat his mum wore.

Reggie says the restaurant is all about sharing the welcoming community spirit and comfort food, like jambalaya, gumbo and SuSu’s signature shrimp bread, which he grew up with.

“Growing up my mom was the best cook I know, she taught me so much and a lot of my fondest memories are with her in the kitchen, cooking for neighbours, family and friends,” he adds. “She instilled that in me, and where I’m from men do a lot of cooking and we have a pride in that.”

Reggie first had the idea for SuSu’s a year ago, but his links with Liverpool date back much further.

He explains:

“There was an American player in the 90s called Joe-Max Moore who played for Everton, and back then he was one of the few Americans playing overseas. His father owned a minor league soccer team in Oklahoma where I was at school at the time so I started following him. 

“When I was working I got to travel quite often and brought my wife, and when we were done with business in London we’d come to Liverpool. 

“We had the chance to come to matches and really got to enjoy Liverpool. We’d stay at the Titanic Hotel and actually got the opportuntity to meet all the players having lunch there one day.”

It was on one of their trips that Reggie first came up with the concept of SuSu’s New Orleans Kitchen, scribbling down a menu on a train paper napkin.

When they arrived in Liverpool he showed it to several people, from the concierge at Titanic to fans they met outside the ground before an Everton game.

The response was overwhelmingly positive and set the ball rolling for him and his buddy Adam, who he met 10 years ago working in another restaurant, to come here and make it happen.

“There were so many things that just felt serendipitous; people we met who offered to help and even the way we found our location, we’ve been very fortunate.

“We came over in in November last year to scout sites and meet people, and we came into Molly Malone’s for a pint. We got talking to the bartender, then the owner Dermot, and we asked what he was doing with the empty kitchen we’d noticed.

“He said nothing so, instead of buying a location straight away, we decided to lease this kitchen and test out our concept, make sure people like it and then hopefully grow in Liverpool and around the UK.”

The pair put together their menu of traditional favourites, teaming up with local suppliers to perfect the flavours.

Plattsville Bakery in south Liverpool is making the French bread for the Po’ Boys and Bexleys Butchers have created a Cajun Andouille sausage using Reggie and Adam’s recipe. That will be used in the jambalaya, gumbo and red beans and rice to give them a distinctive smoky flavour. 

The restaurant will offer tray service, giving colourful Mardi Gras beads – traditionally thrown from parade floats – with each order. It’s proud to be a certified Living Wage restaurant, and the partners also plan to share profits with staff every quarter. 

Reggie says they’re excited to welcome Scousers and visitors to the city from all over the world when they open their doors.

“Liverpool and New Orleans have so much connecting them when it comes to history and culture, I call them sister cities,” he adds. 

“There’s a saying that we’re going to bring here from Mardi Gras which is ‘let the good times roll’ – it’s a mindset in New Orleans, everyone’s just enjoying life, that’s what they’re known for and I think Liverpool is the perfect place for that.”

Find out more about SuSu’s New Orleans Kitchen here.

Find all the latest Liverpool news here.

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