Beth D'Addono is an award-winning food and travel writer living in New Orleans. Her work has appeared in Atlas Obscura, The Local Palate, and the Los Angeles Times.
Despite staring summer in the face, heavy hitters Toups Meatery and Pomegranate Hospitality are expanding their footprints in New Orleans. Tacos del Cartel makes a big splash reopening in Metairie, and a fried chicken go-to moves from Uptown to St. Roch.
After a few fits and starts at its location Uptown on Tchoupitoulas, Wonderland, formerly Wonderland and Sea (fish is no longer on the menu), moved downtown this month to join the community of St. Roch Market vendors. New Orleans-born chef Byron Bradley Jr. continues to focus on sustainable, humane-raised fried chicken along with vegetarian dishes. The French-trained chef is killing it with his flavor-packed take on a Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich served on a homemade sweet potato biscuit and his refreshing (and vegan) red beans and rice salad. Partner Jonathan Rhodes said the move is a full circle for him. He was involved in the reopening of the market after Katrina blighted it. The move bumps the restaurant's hours to match the market's seven-day schedule.
Toups Meatery chef Isaac Toups and his wife/partner Amanda are making a big move into a historic space in the CBD. Opening later this year, the restaurant, Armada, will take over 231 Carondelet Street on the ground floor of what started in the 1920s as the Cotton Exchange Building, later converted to a hotel. Armada, which will focus on Spanish and French cuisine, will be a big restaurant with soaring ceilings, some 7,500 square feet of space, seating for 175, and an open kitchen including a rotisserie. Shalika Sprowal, now the executive chef for the community nonprofit Toups Family Meal, will be Armada's chef de cuisine. Meat, of course, is on the menu, including the Basque-style chuleton and a ginormous bone-in ribeye that can easily feed two carnivores.
Fans of chef Jeremy Fogg's Southern comfort baked goods were bereft when he closed Mae's Bakeshop last November. Which is why it's great news that French Truck Coffee, which opened yet another location on Maple Street last month, has snapped up the pastry chef to expand the company's dining options. Fogg, who made a splash with unforgettable desserts when he worked at Emeril's Restaurant, is now creating both sweet and savory pastries and baking the house focaccia bread. He plans to expand with sandwiches, salads, and other lunch items at kitchen-equipped French Truck locations.
Pomegranate Hospitality, led by restaurateur Emily Shaya and James Beard Foundation Award-winning chef-partner Alon Shaya, is expanding both in New Orleans and Denver later this year.
Safta's Table brings a casual, family-friendly Mediterranean eatery to Lakeview in late 2025. The counter service cafe will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, offering grab-and-go family meals. Also in 2025, Ceci! Italian Lounge will join the restaurant group's Michelin Guide-recognized Safta in Denver's the Source Hotel. Named after the owners' long-haired dachshund, the Italian-inspired restaurant will be on the hotel's second-floor lobby level.
Chef Kazuyuki "Kaz" Ishikawa and his partner Eli Ramos reopened Nagomi in Bywater at 3214 Burgundy Street. For anyone who experienced the 12-seat dining bar before it closed last year, this is brilliant news. Ishikawa works his magic on eye-popping plates of contemporary, creative sushi for the multi-course omakase menu. The only way to reserve is to text or call Ramos at (504) 259-2776, but a response is not guaranteed. The restaurant is currently open Wednesday through Saturday, with seatings at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The best bet is to try to walk in or get a reservation on the books in person. As to the price, the meal used to start at $65 and go up, but no telling what the menu costs now.