As dreamers do … The long-awaited Étoile opened this past summer finally filling the stunning historic mansion left vacant after the closing of Cavan in 2021. Originally from New Orleans, Chef Chris Dupont (of Dupont’s Restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama) returned to his hometown to open Étoile, a “farm-to-table” fine-dining restaurant on Magazine Street. The mansion-turned-restaurant now sports a more polished look on the inside, and exclusively offers diners a seven-course tasting menu at $110 per person with dishes such as tomato gazpacho with ginger carrot and pesto, a goat cheese souffle, seared Waygu beef with pomme frites and petit fours for dessert.
3607 Magazine St., (504)582-9920, etoileorleans.com
She’s not a myth! . . . A new seafood restaurant dubbed Seawitch recently opened on the Avenue. It’s located in the building which once housed Blind Pelican, a popular spot to score 25 cent oysters and cheap beer that closed in 2018 amid an ugly dispute between the restaurant’s owners. Glistening after a much-needed renovation, the space was reopened as Seawitch by hospitality industry veterans Jude Marullo and Claude Mauberret. Chef Richard Bickford (husband of Commander’s Palace’s Executive Chef Meg Bickford) is leading the kitchen at Seawitch, offering a menu with a heavy focus on oysters, such as Gulf-born-beauties on the half shell with a mignonette, and a “Shuckcuterie” board featuring panko fried and tequila oyster shooters – plus a full menu featuring everything from filet mignon finger sandwiches and blue crab toast to smoked chicken and andouille gumbo.
1628 St. Charles Ave., (504) 264-7600, seawitch-nola.com
Is it Tuesday yet? . . . Entrepreneurs Danny Cruz and Vilexys Salas launched Tacos del Cartel in the South Market District early this past summer. The colorful, highly-Intagrammable, high-end taco joint on Girod Street is already making a huge splash featuring corn tortillas made in-house using their own masa. Be prepared to pay a pretty penny for dishes such as the “Cartel Guacamole” featuring Angus rib eye chicharron, a “green” ceviche with red snapper, octopus and watermelon, tortilla soup with queso fresco and duck confit carnitas tacos with a spicy tamarind sauce. One of the coolest (literally) items on the menu is their “Carrito de Feria,” an adorable little cart serving fresh-fried churros dusted with cinnamon sugar and served with dipping sauces and ice cream. The dynamic duo plan to open a second Tacos del Cartel soon in Metairie on David Drive, so keep your Tuesdays open!
1010 Girod St., (504) 354-9038, tacosdelcartel.com
Pepper steak? … After 47 years in business, local denizens were truly bummed to see Riccobono’s Peppermill close in the fall of 2023, but things keep on keeping on. Just this past June, Vacca Steakhouse opened in the beloved location on Severn Avenue, launched by partners Jonathan Brisbi and Darrell Dumestre, but well-known local hospitality veterans are running the show. Hotel Monteleone’s Tim Waguespack is at the front of the house and chef Carmen Provenzano Jr. (from uptown restaurant Pascal’s Manale) is leading the kitchen. Though it looks like the old Peppermill (other than the signage) on the outside, Vacca offers an updated dining room with a more modern look. Mostly open for dinner, the new steakhouse’s menu is centered around . . . well … steak, Prime Angus beef to be exact, accompanied by dishes such as fried lobster tail, Shrimp Fra Diavolo, Chilean Sea Bass and crab cakes.
3524 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 318-3808, vaccasteakhouse.com
Witchy women . . . A pair of skilled local chefs recently launched Tatlo, a restaurant and absinthe bar inside the Old Absinthe Bar on Bourbon Street. Cristina Quackenbush (Milkfish) and Haley Vanvleet (@smokedbowls and BELLE Epoque) have combined their spiritual energies to create the new witch-inspired spot located in what was originally a female-only space, a former bar where ladies could go to refresh before women were legally allowed to patronize drinking establishments in New Orleans in 1949. Tatlo (which means three in the Filipino language) offers “divine” dishes and drinks, conjured specifically to manifest that which you need, from dishes such as Paper Magick – a beef tartare with lemongrass and shiso which boosts prosperity and success to the Four of Swords – a smashed longganisa (Filipino sweet sausage) patty with Fontina and crispy onion said to promote rest, relaxation and recuperation. The spirited space also features a variety of absinthes (including a full service) and absinthe-based cocktails such as the “Spell Breaker with elder flower, pineapple, and calamansi (a Filipino lemon/lime hybrid) symbolizing endings and rebirth.
240 Bourbon St., @TatloNOLA
Jack’s back! . . . Local chef and restaurateur Jack Petronella has been biding his time baking at Maple Street Patisserie, but as the storefront recently closed (they’re still selling wholesale), Petronella has set his sights on a new location just down the block. Launched this past July, Eats Inc. is located in the building that formerly housed the Swap Boutique and is a “cost-conscious” amalgam of his former restaurants ManhattanJacks and Altamura, and the Patisserie, featuring grab-n-go items like Italian subs and pasta bowls along with croissants and morning buns.
7716 Maple St., Eats Inc.
*Article originally published in the September 2024 issue of Where Y’at Magazine
