Jameson Christopher
What happens when a contractor needs to fill additional building space?
Of course he opens a restaurant.
Or at least that’s what Jameson Christopher did.
“It wasn’t a lifelong dream,” he said. “I never thought I would want to open a restaurant.”
And yet earlier this year he opened Coda Rouge on N. 6th St. in Harrisburg.
Sometimes people exaggerate the fact that a particularly tasty meal is “life-changing.” But for Christopher, Crab Cake Benedict really changed his life. One night, while dining out, he liked the dish so much that he asked to meet the chef.
Then he met Sachiko Baez and the two started talking. Christopher told her about the building he had purchased in 2019 for his painting and construction business. It had extra space, including a commercial kitchen he had built specifically for his mother, which was largely unused at the time.
Baez told Christopher about her lifelong dream of opening her own restaurant.
“A lightbulb went off. I thought, ‘Wow, I can actually use this space and give Sachiko the dream she’s always wanted,'” Christopher said. “And that’s how Coda Rouge was born.”
Coda Rouge serves upscale breakfast and brunch daily and is scheduled for evening hours. It also features desserts by Christopher’s mother, pastry chef Lisa Christopher.
It is difficult to determine the exact cuisine as the dishes are of diverse origins and come from Japanese, Italian, French, Central American, Spanish and South Asian cuisines.
“We couldn’t choose one. That’s not who we are,” said Baez, who serves as chef. “We’ve been influenced by a lot of different cultures and have a lot of cultures in our background. So we want to represent that.”
Christopher and Baez’s different passions and skills complement each other well, creating a warm, inviting, meaningful and cozy space for serving delicious dishes, they explained.
“Our creativity meshes,” Baez said. “I bring him food ideas and he has a vision of what he wants this place to look like.”
Sophisticated space
When you first enter the seemingly ordinary brick building, you would never expect what you would find inside.
“People come here and say they feel like they’re somewhere else, somewhere beautiful. And it’s not just young people who say that. Older people who have traveled all over the place say that too,” Christopher said. “They feel like it’s a place where they can relax.”
The elegant space has a welcoming and cozy atmosphere that makes you feel at home, yet like you’re in a fine dining restaurant. The hall near the entrance is lined with colorful paintings of black jazz musicians by local artists. The dining area continues this artistic theme, with more local works and decorative elements adding to the overall mood.
In addition to the restaurant, the building, called “The Continental,” has lounge areas on the upper and ground floors, offering visitors a place to relax and enjoy the atmosphere.
“We want to show what sophisticated black culture is all about,” Baez said.
Christopher’s mission is to broaden the horizons of young people in Harrisburg by making Coda Rouge accessible to those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy fine dining.
“Young people need to be exposed to different things,” Christopher said. “Young people in inner cities, like myself, often don’t have that opportunity. We don’t really know what nice restaurants offer. We can’t go to these nice art galleries. I want to expose young people to all of that.”
Christopher also wants to use an example to show the benefits of hard work.
“Nobody gave me this as a gift,” he said. “I want to show (the youth) what you can achieve as a self-starter.”
The legacy
For Christopher, the mural that stretches across the outside of the building is perhaps the most important part of the whole place.
The painting, by Harrisburg-based artist Bryan “King Prolifik” Hickman, depicts a group of the Tuskegee Airmen, black military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II. Also featured in the mural is Charles Petty Sr., Christopher’s grandfather.
Local children often stop by, look at the mural and ask him “who that man was,” Christopher says. This not only gives Christopher a chance to brag about his grandfather, but also to share important black history with those who have never heard of the Tuskegee Airmen.
“It’s an educational thing,” he said. “History teaching in schools needs to be better. It was a great feeling to have people taking photos next to it.”
Coda Rouge is even named after the Tuskegee Airmen, who were nicknamed Red Tails because of the red-colored tails of their planes. “Coda” means “tail” in Italian and “rouge” means “red” in French, Christopher explained.
Years ago, the building that now houses Coda Rouge was known for a very different legacy, Christopher said. The building housed a white-owned business that maintained racial segregation and barred blacks from entering or even staying on the building’s property, he said.
Today, Coda Rouge represents the pinnacle of black excellence.
“I’m not doing all this just for myself,” he said. “I can give something back to the community, something from our history, from the history of African Americans.”
Coda Rouge is located at 2013 N. 6th St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.thecontinentalhbg.com.
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