Since 1969, restaurant, hotel, travel & other witty reviews by a handpicked, worldwide team of discerning professionals—and your views, too.


News for Restaurants in New Orleans
August 2013 Archive

Search / Openings / Closings / Chef Shuffle / News Bytes / Culinary Events / Wine dinners / Sign up for our free, monthly newsletter / News Archive

RESTAURANT NEWS

Openings

While other cities might find it odd to open a restaurant that grants equal time and space to donuts and hamburgers, New Orleans has long loved the combination. Now the popular Stein's Market & Deli in the Garden District is getting a new next door neighbor that will honor that tradition. District Donuts.Sliders.Brew will reportedly open as a donut and coffee house that serves craft-style donuts (although they have not defined that just yet) and mini-burgers. They will not serve alcohol --- the brew is coffee. However, Stein's has a full selection of beers just next door and patrons are welcome to purchase beer there and carry it in to the new restaurant. The new place is slated to open in the Fall, but a definitive opening date has not yet been determined. District Donuts.Sliders.Brew, 2209 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA 70125, no phone.
 
Since the popular Domenica opened in The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, word has spread far and wide about its outstanding and reasonably-priced pizzas. Now, chefs John Besh and Alon Shaya are acting on the unexpected popularity of their pizza by planning a spin-off restaurant where they will focus mainly on their wood-fired pizzas, along with a selection of small plate items. The new restaurant does not yet have an anticiapted opening date, and will be located in a 3000-square-foot building on upper Magazine St. Reportedly, the new spot will be appropriately named Pizza Domenica.
 
The burgeoning restaurant row on Magazine St. in the Garden District just got a bit spicier with the debut of Amici Ristorante & Bar, where coal-fired pizzas are rapidly becoming the house signature dish. If the pizza has a distinct smoky flavor, that is strictly by design and a product of baking it at extremely high temperatures. For those who are particular about beer selections to go with their pizza, Amici offers 30 draft beers, as well as distinctive frozen liquors. In addition to the pizza, there are about a dozen pasta offerings, as well as veal chops, double-cut pork chops (also coal-fired) and an outstanding chicken marsala. If none of that has you looking for your keys just yet, just remember these words: Fried Oreo cookies with gelato. Dinner nightly. Amici Ristorante & Bar, 3218 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA 70125, 504-300-1250.
 

News Bytes

Area Restaurants Team Up with the American Heart Association
More than three dozen New Orleans-area restaurants have signed on for a new program called Eat Fit Nola, in cooperation with the American Heart Association. The new effort will involve the chefs creating and promoting menu items that meet the nutrition guidelines of the American Heart Association, especially by limiting sugar content and white carbohydrates. Sodium and fat content will be limited, as well. Among the restaurants already committed to the program are Commander's Palace, Byblos, Sukho Thai, Bayona, Vega Tapas Cafe and many others. Some of the participating restaurants have already added menu items that meet all of the AHA guidelines.
 
Dick & Jenny's Reborn as a Creole Italian Spot
Dick & Jenny's, a perennial Uptown New Orleans favorite dining spot since 1999, has new owners and a new menu. The restaurant, currently in its third act since the original ownership, is now owned by Kelly Barker and Cristiano Raffignone, who also own Martinique Bistro. The new owners wisely retained some of the house signature dishes, but Raffignone, who also owns Cristiano's in Houma, LA, decided to duplicate some of the Houma restaurant's Italian specialties on the Dick & Jenny's menu. The popular fried green tomatoes with remoulade suace and shrimp made the cut, as did the barbecued shrimp. But new to the selections are a stellar osso buco and veal piccata, among additional Italian offerings. Located in a true Creole cottage, the new owners made a smart decision in leaving the charming interior decor as it has always been. Dick & Jenny's, 4501 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70115, 504-894-9880.
 

Chef Shuffle

After the sudden death of chef Ngoc Nguyen earlier this year. Ste. Marie has named Emeril's veteran Kristen Essig as the new chef. Essig, who once managed the popular Crescent City Farmer's Market, places great emphasis on the use of locally grown produce and other food products. Ste. Marie, 930 Poydras St., New Orleans, LA 70112, 504-304-6988.
 
In a news item that is way too famliar to New Orleanians, The Grill Room at the Windsor Court Hotel has once again lost its executive chef. Over the past decade or so the restaurant has seen many chefs come and go.  Although the room is among the most elegant in the city, the menu and the talent behind it has been inconsistent and ever-changing. This time, chef Kristin Butterworth, who only worked in the kitchen for about a year, has left for family reasons. In her place, chef de cuisine Vlad Ahmadyaro will step up to the executive chef position while the hotel does a national search for a new chef de cuisine. The Grill Room, Windsor Court Hotel, 300 Gravier St., New Orleans, LA 70130, 504-522-1992.
 

Closings

CLOSED FOR GOOD
Take your taste buds on a walk down memory lane! Check out our exclusive closed restaurant database for New Orleans to virtually visit your favorite dining spots from the past. Dominique's, R.I.P.

Broussard's, one of the flagship Creole restaurants in the French Quarter, is underoing a $1 million renovation.  Sold last year by its long time owners, the restaurant, now owned by Creole Cuisine Restaurant Concepts, is getting a much needed re-do, including lightening and opening up the main entrance hall. The dining rooms will reportedly look similar to what they have always looked like, with the excpetion of new paint colors and carpeting. Broussard's courtyard, which is among the most coveted party spaces in the city, has $40,000 worth of new trees and plants. The restaurant will remain closed until late September, at which time it will reopen with the kitchen under the direction of former Sheraton Hotel chef Guy Reinbolt. When the restaurant reopens, it will also debut its new Empire Bar. Broussard's, 819 Conti St., New Orleans, LA 70116, 504-581-3866.
 

CULINARY EVENTS
Want to learn to cook
? Try new dishes? Meet a foodie friend for fun? Check out our compilation of culinary events in your area.


View our calendar of Wine Dinners & Tastings in New Orleans

Current News View archived news: November 2019 | May 2019 | April 2019 | February 2019 | January 2019 | December 2018 | October 2018 | August 2018 | June 2018 | May 2018 | April 2018 | March 2018 | December 2017 | October 2017 | September 2017 | August 2017 | May 2017 | April 2017 | February 2017 | November 2016 | October 2016 | August 2016 | July 2016 | May 2016 | April 2016 | March 2016 | February 2016 | January 2016 | December 2015 | November 2015 | October 2015 | September 2015 | August 2015 | July 2015 | June 2015 | May 2015 | March 2015 | February 2015 | January 2015 | December 2014 | October 2014 | September 2014 | August 2014 | July 2014 | June 2014 | May 2014 | April 2014 | February 2014 | January 2014 | December 2013 | November 2013 | October 2013 | September 2013 | August 2013 | July 2013 | June 2013 | May 2013 | April 2013 | March 2013 | February 2013 | January 2013 | December 2012 | November 2012 | October 2012 | September 2012 | August 2012 | July 2012 | June 2012 | May 2012 | April 2012 | March 2012 | February 2012 | January 2012 | December 2011 | November 2011 | October 2011 | September 2011 | August 2011 | July 2011 | June 2011 | May 2011 | April 2011 | March 2011 | February 2011 | January 2011 | December 2010 | November 2010 | October 2010 | September 2010 | August 2010 | July 2010 | June 2010 | May 2010 | April 2010 | March 2010 | February 2010 | January 2010 | December 2009 | November 2009 | October 2009 | September 2009 | August 2009 | July 2009 | June 2009 | May 2009 | April 2009 | March 2009 | February 2009 | January 2009 | December 2008 | November 2008 | October 2008 | September 2008 | August 2008 | July 2008 | June 2008 | May 2008 | April 2008 | March 2008



VALENTINE'S DAY WINES

Add wine to the celebration of love, curated by GAYOT´s Wine & Spirits Editor.

Check the list.

CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS

For a rosé bubbly Valentine's Day celebration.

Get the recipes.

GAYOT'S RESTAURANT AWARDSOver the years, we have been electing restaurants to be on GAYOT's Yearly Restaurant Awards.

Check the list.