Looking at the menu at Small Mart Cafe, it can be hard to make sense of the variety.
First there are the bagels, led by the “New Yorker,” filled with smoked salmon, tomato, onion, capers, and cream cheese.
Soon, you’ll come to the curry and chaat bowls, leaning into the flavors of India and Pakistan and including sides like samosas and crispy pakoras.
Near the bottom of the menu, you’ll find po’boys – this is New Orleans, after all. The local sandwiches traditionally are filled with proteins like fried shrimp, oysters, or roast beef. At Small Mart, however, tradition isn’t much of a constraint.
Here, the po’boy options include chickpea-battered spinach and onion pakora, or a locally-sourced tofu version marinated in citrus, pepper, and salt. Finally, there’s a beautiful, deep-purple veggie burger po’boy made with potatoes, beets, green peas, carrots, and cashews. And, while it’s standard to have the iconic “fully dressed” with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and mayo, Small Mart goes its own way with house-made chutneys, onions, cucumbers, and carrots – all on the customary po’boy French bread.
There are pescetarian options, vegetarian options, vegan options, all with influences from South Asia, Brazil, and the Jewish bagel shops of New York City. One can be forgiven for wondering, “What in the literal world is going on here?!”
Small Mart owner Bryant Wilms, 53, has an answer.
“The menu at Small Mart is autobiographical. In a way, the whole restaurant is autobiographical,” he said. “I didn’t necessarily mean to do it this way, but it has turned out that basically everything you can taste here – and even observe here – can be traced back to some past moment in my life.”
“And because it’s so personal,” he added, “I really want people to enjoy their time here.”
Small Mart is in what is sometimes referred to as “the Bywater-Marigny,” two neighborhoods tucked away near the Mississippi River, just east of New Orleans’ French Quarter. Often thought of as a haven for hipsters, this is an area of the city that features plenty of vegan and vegetarian food options, dive bars, cabarets, karaoke, and even an old-school arcade.
Hop into Small Mart on a weekday morning and that stereotype is confirmed by a plethora of tattoos and mustaches. But look closer, and you’ll see a diversity of smiling faces that go beyond just one demographic. There are customers aged 20 through 75, a rainbow of skin colors and fashion styles, and even a few savvy tourists mixed in with the locals. Many stop to chat with Bryant and his team.
“I want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable here,” Bryant explained, “because I know what it’s like to not feel welcome someplace.” He recalls walking into a kosher restaurant whose clientele is made up primarily of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews when he was living in his original hometown of New York City. Bryant, who is not Jewish, said that when he entered, it felt like everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him as if he wasn’t supposed to be there.
“I will never forget that overwhelming feeling of discomfort,” Bryant said. “So when I have a moment to look up, and I see how kind and welcoming Small Mart is – not just because of me, but because of my staff, and even our regulars – I can’t help but smile at what we’ve created.”
Bryant grew up in the Queens borough of New York City to two Brazilian parents who immigrated there in the 1960s. “I never went to the French Culinary Institute or anything like that,” he said, unapologetic. “But I did grow up in the melting pot of New York City with a Brazilian mother who made great food from fresh ingredients. It wasn’t culinary school, but I learned so much.”
Brazilian food was often on the menu at home, a cuisine Bryant referred to as “very simple, and also very delicious.” But, when his mother developed an especially serious form of cancer, her doctor recommended a cleaner diet as part of her treatment plan. “When my mom got sick, we had to become very thoughtful with our meals,” Bryant remembered. “She could only eat a limited number of ingredients, and they were all fresh.”
Bryant says that, as difficult as that time was, it influences his palette to this day. “Come into Small Mart, and it’s pretty clear that it stuck with me how delicious fresh ingredients can be compared to processed ones,” he said.
But there were other influences, as well. Living in New York City means Bryant was surrounded by just about every cuisine the world has to offer. Davidovich Bagels were available two blocks from his childhood home. And he went to school in the East Village, right next to a shop where he could get $6 plates of Punjab food. As a teenager, Bryant joined what he describes as a “straight-edge hardcore band,” and that music scene introduced him to veganism. “Inside my house I was exposed to amazing food,” he said, “and outside the door, I was exposed to something else, also amazing.”
Bryant visited New Orleans for the first time during Halloween of 2004. It left such an impression on him, he and his boyfriend had moved here by the following year. He opened his first brick and mortar business, a vintage boutique shop called Gnome, in the French Quarter. It was a success, as was the business next door, a bodega-style eatery selling Pakistani food. “The owner of the eatery and I developed something like a friendship,” Bryant recalled, “Or maybe she just took me under her wing. She’d bring me food from her shop every day.”
By 2012, the landlord of both spaces approached Bryant about taking over the Pakistani woman’s store because she was getting ready to retire. “I was hesitant, because I’m not Pakistani, so why does this make any sense,” he said. “But then the woman came in and encouraged me to keep making her food.”
Bryant wasn’t a professional chef, but he did have catering and food pop-up experience in New York. Indian and Pakistani food had also become a staple in Bryant’s diet as a New Yorker, particularly during his vegan years. So he decided to take a leap.
He closed Gnome in 2012 and focused on the restaurant, which he called Small Mart – a tongue-in-cheek counterpunch to the lack of warmth one feels at gigantic chains like Walmart. He continued with the South Asian food of the previous owner, and then – like any self-respecting New Yorker – added bagels into the mix, as well.
Then, one day, an older woman with gray hair and stylish glasses walked into the shop. She had some unsolicited advice. “Completely unprompted, this cool, kooky, artsy-bougie older woman walked in,” Bryant remembered. “She looked me right in the eyes, and said, ‘Hey, you know what you should do? You should serve more vegan food!’” He took it as a sign, and he took the advice. When the landlord decided to sell the property Bryant operated in in 2019, it was time to find a new location. That’s when Small Mart found its way to the Bywater-Marigny.
Spend five minutes in Small Mart and it’s impossible to miss the community Bryant has built with the help of his staff and customers. It’s not uncommon to see a regular run over to give Bryant a hug. “You’ll also see people coming back into town after their vacation away,” he said, “and they’ll say, the first place I wanted to come when I got back was here. That makes me so happy to hear.”
Bryant’s goal, however, is to build a community that spans the full breadth of the neighborhood in which he does business. That was apparent during our visit when an unhoused person walked into Small Mart and was greeted by Bryant. “They are an essential part of our community, too,” Bryant said when asked about the interaction. “Can you imagine the hard time they’re having right now? It’s hot outside and, if they try to come inside for some air conditioning, they’re treated poorly.”
“I don’t want anyone to be treated poorly here,” he added. “They should be met with a bite to eat, a glass of water, and the same kindness we give everyone.”
Of course, for those who haven’t stepped into Small Mart, that kindness can sometimes be lost. “Sometimes on social media, you’ll get people being critical of me for cooking Indian and Pakistani food even though I’m from America,” he said. “I think this one particular time, a woman got mad because I used a term wrong.”
Bryant understood the complaint and – rather than getting defensive – listened and learned as the person voiced their position. “They thanked me for being open and listening,” he said, “and honestly, even though it’s just online, I want that person to feel good about what we’re doing here, as well.”
That doesn’t mean, however, that Bryant is going to stop making the foods that have influenced his life. “I don’t think only Italian people can make pizza, or only people from the Middle East can make hummus,” he said. “The foods on my menu have been a part of my life for so long.”
Everything at Small Mart – from the sides on the menu to the smile he gives anyone he sees walk through his door – is something learned over the course of his life.
“I love what it has resulted in,” he said. “It’s my story, and I want everyone who walks in to enjoy it.”
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