Mother and son duo Sharon and Devan Cunningham of midtown’s CC’s on Central are chopping it up and revamping their much-loved Southern staples this summer.
Hot on the heels of the younger Cunningham’s win on Food Network’s signature cooking challenge show "Chopped," the pair announced changes to their restaurant that aim to take their popular Sunday service menu to the next level.
“We’re pretty much going back to our roots,” Devan says.
When launching CC’s on Central, he pushed for more global offerings to balance the heavier Southern staples, partially to appeal to the corporate working lunch crowd that dominates the two high-rise buildings on either side of the restaurant.
As the eatery has become more established, events like the “Sunday Service,” with an extensive menu of classic Southern staples like fried chicken, candied yams, mac and cheese, collard greens and beans and rice, have become fan-favorites. Now, the Cunninghams are shifting away from the global fare to focus on their soul and Creole offerings.
“My mom and I like to argue about the menu, and so I was eager to have some of these other options. My mom calls me 'bougie' for that reason. But ultimately for me, opening this restaurant with her, I wanted to give my mom what she wanted from the jump, which is straight soul food," Devan says. "So now we get to finally do that."
While she favors the Southern classics, Sharon doesn't want to be pigeon-holed into the “soul food” box. At the end of the day, most good food comes from the soul, if it’s made well, she points out. Southern staples just happen to be dishes she loves to cook for people.
“But, you know, with that ‘bougie’ twist,” she jokes, ribbing her son.
This shift puts CC's much closer in line with the offerings of its sister restaurant, Sharon’s Creole Kitchen in Murrieta, California. And while some fans are bemoaning the end of the brunch offerings (especially the pancakes, which may return on the weekends in the future), the new menu is full of dishes made with care.
Starting on Tuesday, the restaurant will stay open until 8 p.m. and the daily menu will include fried chicken, fish, and shrimp, along with red beans and rice, jambalaya, shrimp etouffee and shrimp and grits. The po-boys could easily square up against any such sandwich in the Quarter.
In addition, the new menu will include side staples such as mac and cheese, candied yams, maque choux (corn, peppers and tomato), fried okra and collard greens that are not to be missed.
Daily specials will be on the rotation as well, with rumors of alligator and gumbo being considered. Fans of Devan’s cult-favorite “Wing Wednesday” need not be worried, as the weekly wing selections will still be in the mix, as will a tempting number of desserts such as sweet potato pie, red velvet cake and lemon church cake.
CC’s is also rolling out a new cocktail program, with signature drinks like Sharon’s Sweet Tea made with Louisiana black tea, vodka and cane syrup and a Henny Colada made with cognac, coconut and pineapple. The star of the roster may be the Candied Yam Milk Punch with reposado tequila and yam syrup, a combination with sweet, smoky notes and comfort vibes that would make for a perfect fall cocktail.
"Chopped" champion
The pivot to a “greatest hits” menu of traditional soul food with some signature refined culinary plus-ups perfectly encapsulates the dynamic between the duo and was a major factor in Devan’s recent victory on the competitive cooking show "Chopped."In each episode, contestants are tasked with using a basket of mystery ingredients to create a signature dish in a very limited amount of time. In the episode, titled “Snail Caviar Dreams,” the chefs were challenged to use unusual items including escargot pearls, kale candies and whole dried tarantulas.
Knowing he'd won the show, Devan decided to host a watch party and recreate his offerings, without letting his guests know the secret additions beforehand.
It was difficult to recreate the dishes, the chef says, noting that it wasn't an exact science in the small timeframe of 20 or 30 minutes for each course. But Devan and his team relied on their instincts to replicate the experience.
“In the moment, you don’t have time to think, you just move. My mom says I am bougie, but I cook, in theory, simple food. I like simple and balanced dishes. I knew the ingredients, and so I reverse-engineered it. It was fun, trying to revisit and recreate and going back to that time at the shoot and trying to do it again,” Devan says.
And while we may be in the desert, getting restaurant-grade tarantulas proved difficult.
“You have to order them from Thailand,” Devan explains. “There’s a wholesale company, but you have to order in bulk, and it’s expensive. Then, they have to go through customs, you literally have to declare them: 50 tarantulas, which is a whole process,” Devan says.
The spiders, which were blitzed into a chocolate graham cracker crust for the dessert course, helped push Cunningham’s dishes to the top the competition. His mother, however, was having none of it.
“Whatever Devan does, I always believe in him. I knew he won, but I didn’t know... Mother’s intuition, I guess. He wouldn’t tell me because he says I can’t keep a secret, but I was just excited that he was on," she says. "But did I try any tarantula? Hell no!"
With all the excitement from the show and the summer revamp of the restaurant, the Cunninghams admittedly have a lot on their plates. That's without Devan’s commitment to his private chef company, The Good Food Table, the pending line of CC’s spice mixes that are set to be sold across the country this summer or the cookbook project he has teased. He has also taken up vinyl DJing and picking up sets across the city, just to learn something new and enjoy the process.
Sharon is also managing the sister restaurant operating in California, which her husband operates, while commuting back and forth between states on the weekends. She casually mentions that her mother still makes the roux daily, by hand, at that restaurant, following an exacting hour-long process.
Busy, it seems, is an understatement, but Sharon and Devan seem to prefer it that way.
“I picked a helluva time to start with a new menu, but this is what people want. It’s family, and this city is so hospitable and welcoming, we love it here, so we had to do it,” Sharon says.
She knows some of her patrons will miss the breakfast menu, and that change is hard. But at the same time, the new menu reflects what the city keeps asking for. Now, she just hopes the new options resonate.
“I’m excited. When Devan is gone next week, I’m probably gonna throw pork chops on the menu. He can’t stop me,” Sharon jokes, leaning into their creative combativeness.
“I know I get on his damn nerves, but that’s what I’m supposed to do!" she quips. "I tell him, ‘You cut me the same grace I cut you,’ And you know what? That’s how it works.”
CC's on Central
2800 N. Central Ave. A100
