In West Africa, maquis are small, open-air restaurants that serve as go-to meeting places for locals. It’s a concept where bustling social hubs meet communal dining, centering on good food and good people. Fanta and Fabiola Agbale hope to evoke that feeling with their restaurant Le Nouveau Maquis. With two locations in DeKalb County, one in Stone Mountain and a newly-opened location in Tucker, the mother-daughter duo is bringing a taste of home to metro Atlanta and crafting their own maquis one West African dish at a time.
“A maquis is supposed to be a space that’s on your street or in your neighborhood. So, if your mom didn’t cook at home, you can go there,” Fabiola said. “I think feeling like home is always a good thing.”
What has now become a popular spot for the diaspora in the Atlanta area once started at the back of an African store on Memorial Drive with only 10 seating spaces. While it wasn’t Fabiola’s initial plan to venture into the restaurant business with her mom, she believed Le Nouveau Maquis could reach new heights. When she graduated from school, the pair opened their first storefront in 2020 on the same street.
Since then, the restaurant has become a staple in the metro area for West African food, garnering love from locals who are and aren’t familiar with the cuisine. The passion for what they’ve been able to build can be seen as soon as you step into the restaurants, with memorabilia from Africa greeting guests as the sounds of afrobeats, highlife, coupé-décalé, and mbalax surround them. Oftentimes, you can see Fabiola cooking in the kitchen or greeting guests in the dining area as the smell of authentic spices and flavors wafts throughout the restaurant.
“I want to see the people that I’m serving. I want to see what they like, what they don’t like. I want to see their vibes in general. I think from going from the back of the African store, I was doing front of the house. It was only me, so I was cooking and giving them the food, or picking up the phone because there was just no need to have so many people. But going into bigger spaces, I thought it was still important for people to still know who we are and know that we’re still there cooking.”
For decades, the African diaspora’s stronghold in Atlanta has grown, especially among business owners. African restaurants and grocery stores dot the metro Atlanta area, creating corridors and pockets that feel like homes away from home. Within that, Le Nouveau Maquis has created a burgeoning space for itself, bringing dishes all across West Africa to the forefront. The menu features dishes from 10 West African countries, from Liberia, Senegal, and Nigeria to dishes from Togo, their home country.
“I think being able to give you diversity in food is what makes us special. So, you can come and look for maybe Nigerian food, or you could come and look for Togolese food, and you’d still find it. You’d still find something from Ghana, Sierra Leone, or whatnot. Other places don’t necessarily provide that, in my opinion; they might provide something based on one culture, mainly, which I think kind of does it a disservice, seeing that most of us already eat just about the same things.
“We have family from a lot of these places. We’re from Togo, but we have family in Congo. We have family in the Ivory Coast. So it was only right that we do them justice and do food from their spaces as well.”
Patrons can feast on a tour of dishes such as egusi soup and beef suya from Nigeria, thieboudienne and chicken yassa from Senegal, waakye from Ghana, and attiéké from Côte d’Ivoire, to name a few. Fanta and Fabiola celebrated the grand opening of their Tucker location in February. While their Memorial Drive location is intended to provide a homey feeling, the Tucker location extends that vision into an upscale, elevated space with more seating and space so they can give their customers the best experience.
“I think this space just takes us to another step. To me, it’s not about replicating the same ambiance everywhere, but just going a step further every single time that we can. The food may be the same, but the space is just a little bit more elevated. I always try to give you something new with something old, so that nobody ever feels out of place.”
As Le Nouveau continues to grow, Fabiola said their eyes are set on hopefully expanding with more locations and bringing the food of West Africa to the world.
“We’re hoping for three, four, five more Le Nouveaus in Georgia, in the DMV, in Africa — anywhere. You never know. As long as the food is still good, as long as we have our bases covered, I don’t see why we can’t get more.”
You can visit Le Nouveau Maquis at 5651 Memorial Dr, Stone Mountain, GA 30083, or 4073 Lavista Rd., Suite 369, Tucker, GA 30084.
