Hip New Orleans

Where to eat and sleep in the Big Easy now

NEW ORLEANS — When Emeril Lagasse opens his new restaurant in the Warehouse District this week, it’s cause for celebration. Not only because Meril — named for his daughter — is his fourth restaurant in the Big Easy (and the first in nearly two decades), but it debuts at a time when the city is flush with new dining and hotel activity.

So many new restaurants: Trinity, a new fine-dining spot for contemporary Creole in the French Quarter; Cavan, an American coastal eatery in Uptown; Vessel, a modern coastal Mediterranean-fare concept in Mid City; and Bar Frances, a stylish wine bar in the Freret Street corridor. And the city scored recently when N7, a “hidden” French bar and restaurant that not even Uber drivers or Google maps can find, found itself in the top 10 of Bon Appetit’s America’s Best New Restaurants 2016 list.

These newcomers join the Caribbean Room at the Pontchartrain Hotel; Josephine Estelle and Seaworthy at the new Ace Hotel; and Café Henri in Bywater as fresh places to dine. Meanwhile, Tujague’s, the second-oldest restaurant in New Orleans (home to the oldest stand-up bar in America and birthplace of the Grasshopper cocktail) is marking its 160th anniversary this year.

This exciting dining landscape is set against a city teeming with new hotel options. While the new Ace Hotel and Pontchartrain Hotel are getting plenty of buzz, a number of projects are waiting in the wings. The 184-room Troubador is set to open this fall in a 17-story landmark building in the Central Business District; it will be home to a neighborhood bistro called Petit Lion, a lobby lounge with a cocktail program featuring punch bowls, and a rooftop venue. Spring will bring the NOPSI Hotel, a 217-room luxury property at 317 Baronne that housed the New Orleans Public Services, which once ran the city’s electric, gas and public transport systems. NOPSI’s restaurant and bar, Public Service, will offer classic Gulf Coast seafood — a rooftop pool and bar should add to its allure.

Until then, here are some of the Crescent City’s best new places to eat and rest your weary head.

Rush Jagoe Seaworthy is a collaboration between the New Orleans Ace Hotel and New York’s Grand Banks oyster bar. Executive chef Kerry Heffernan and chef de cuisine Daniel Causgrove helm the kitchen.