Classin’ up the joint . . . Restaurateur and contractor Cassi Dymond has partnered with chef Melissa M. Martin of Uptown’s Mosquito Supper Club to launch Saint Claire located in Algiers. Part of a complex that served as an internment camp for “enemy aliens” during WWII called Camp Algiers and “camp of the innocent,” – housing mostly Japanese American citizens – a portion of the 10 acre parcel owned by Lindsay and Joel Snodgrass is getting an upgrade, including Dymond and Martin’s new restaurant. As opposed to Mosquito Supper Club’s pre-paid dining program, Saint Claire is a full-service restaurant open Thursday through Sunday and offers dinner and brunch. Although the menu is billed as being inspired by “country French,” dishes such as rabbit rillettes, duck confit and Nicoise salad share menu space with crab gnocchi, lamb bolognese and BBQ shrimp.
1300 Richland Rd., (504) 766-9316, saintclaire.me
Hai, onegaishimasu . . . In more good news for the Westbank, Byron Stithem and business partner Bryson Aust recently opened Rice Vice, a sake bar located cheek by jowl to pizza joint Nighthawk Napoletana in Algiers Point. Once a barbershop, the space has been transformed by wall-to-wall-to-ceiling wood paneling creating a unique and intimate atmosphere in which to enjoy sake and shochu made by Proper Sake Co., a Nashville-based sake producer specializing in traditional Japanese fermentation processes called koji.
143 Delaronde St., ricevice.co
Your Majesty . . . New York-based chain Prince Tea House founded by Manny Lee has made its way to Metairie. An “Asian-European” fusion restaurant, Prince Tea House offers, among other delights, a full Afternoon Tea with a wide choice of loose leaf teas, finger sandwiches, scones and assorted daily desserts. A large a la carte menu includes breakfast and lunch items from an apple cranberry walnut salad and sweet potato fries to octopus takoyaki and katsu chicken brioche sandwiches. Essentially a mashup of a bubble tea dessert shop and proper English tea room, at Prince Tea House you can have your fish and chips with a slice of brown sugar boba mille crepes cake and eat it too.
3012 N. Arnoult Rd., (504) 330-0360, princeteahouse.com
Beautifying a cuppa Joe . . . Former Gautreau’s executive chef Baruch Rabasa and his partner Melissa Stewart have made a home in Bywater for their small-batch coffee roasting operations, opening a brick and mortar called Applied Arts Coffee. The coffee centric cafe is serving smørrebrød (aka open-faced Scandinavian sandwiches), pastry and salads along with their premium roasts created to please a chef’s palate.
612 Piety St., appliedartscoffee.com
Making way for Mandarin Orange Chicken . . . Everyone’s hollering a big hip, hip hoorah for the first Trader Joe’s location in Orleans Parish, proper. Everyone knows the Joe’s on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie has one nightmare of a parking lot because everyone in the GNO is desperate to get their Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups and Unexpected Cheddar Cheese. Hopefully, the new Tulane Avenue location (and the soon-to-be-opened store on Napoleon Avenue) will ease those crammed lot woes. As long as I can get my hands on a bag of Rosemary Croissant Croutons without a 8 trolley pile up, it’s all good.
2501 Tulane Ave., traderjoes.com/home
Location, location, location . . . Alumns of the local food industry, Christy Samoy and Mike Hampton have launched Hot & Soul in the Banks Street shotgun that once housed the to-die-for burgers and moules-frites phenom Fharmacy that closed in 2022. The duo, who have worked at beloved local restaurants like Rio Mar and Vegas Tapas Cafe, are taking advantage of foot and vehicle traffic resulting from the new Trader Joe’s that opened just around the block. Similar to the restaurant’s former occupants, Hot & Soul features an eclectic menu with dishes like Bahamian fish chowder with local drum and habanero, pork lumpia with a chile garlic dipping sauce, a bacon wrapped hot dog served with pico de gallo and beef stroganoff with dill creme fraiche.
2540 Banks St., (504) 432-8006, hotandsoul.com
Cinna-who? . . . West coast bakery franchise Cinnaholic opened over the summer with much ado. First opened in Berkley, California by husband and wife team Shannon and Florian Radke in 2010, the vegan cinnamon roll franchise has grown by leaps and bounds and now has over 90 locations across the U.S. and Canada. The specialty bakery has made its way South with its first New Orleans location on Freret Street owned by local couple Keiyanah and Matthew Ratleff. Cinnaholic offers “gourmet,” vegan cinnamon rolls with a range of toppings from the Old Skool classic to Caramel Apple and Campfire S’mores.
4921 Freret St., @cinnaholicnola
Back in business . . . The Tulane Avenue landmark Anita’s Grill has a new home on the ground floor of The Howard in the Warehouse District. Once home to Back to the Garden, an affordable lunch spot that closed in 2017, the space is now the World Famous Anita’s Grill, now run by two local firefighters Sean McCormick and Alan Novak. The 24-hour greasy spoon first opened in 1949 by namesake Anita Jackson has come back in a big way bringing old school favorites downtown, so if you’ve been missing their pork chops and eggs, liver and onions, chicken and waffles and cheesy grits, you can still get them, and at relatively affordable prices to boot.
833 Howard Ave., anitasgrillnola.com
*Article was originally published in the September 2025 issue of Where Y’at Magazine
