The Big Easy bounces back

Even though the ongoing pandemic forced the cancellation of this year’s Jazz & Heritage Festival and French Quarter Festival (among many other beloved events that drew tens of thousands to the party city), New Orleans’ tourism industry began to claw its way back in the spring. Late summer, however, brought Hurricane Ida and its devastating blackout that hobbled the city once again.

But the Big Easy is a fighter. Thanks in part to hotel openings with showy restaurant and bar options, visitors are once again returning to a dining scene lighting up with exciting new players.

Commons Club

The restaurant with a socialclub spirit is the culinary hub of the new Virgin Hotels New Orleans in the Warehouse District. Under the direction of executive chef Alex Harrell, the menu offers lively modern bistro fare such as Gulf shrimp pappardelle with heirloom tomatoes; smoked potato croquettes with trout roe and rouille; confit chicken leg with ricotta gnocchi; roasted mushroom fritters with charred green onion remoulade; and a wagyu smash burger with smoked Gouda and bacon-fat aioli. Modern classics rule the cocktail menu (the intimate Shag Room bar is tucked inside the restaurant). 550 Baronne; virginhotels.com/ new-orleans

Emeril’s

The signature restaurant from Emeril Lagasse, closed for more than a year during the pandemic, reopened recently in the Warehouse District, restoring the celebrity chef ’s voice as a definitive interpreter of contemporary New Orleans cuisine. Dishes such as Emeril’s gumbo, andouille-crusted Gulf drum, lobster fettuccine, sugar-canelacquered duck and banana cream pie are back, and not a moment too soon for a city that reveres the work and boundless creativity of the “bam” man. 800 Tchoupitoulas; emerilsrestaurants.com/ emerils-new-orleans

Miss River

The most exciting restaurant project in years is James Beard Award-winning chef Alon Shaya’s lavish riverbendview dining room at the muchanticipated Four Seasons

Hotel New Orleans. Described as a “love letter to Louisiana,” the restaurant’s menu includes dishes such as Louisiana oyster patty with puff pastry and caramelized shiitake mushrooms; salt-crusted Gulf red snapper; clay pot dirty rice with seared duck; and whole carved buttermilk fried chicken. Fellow local superchef Donald Link’s Chemin à la Mer restaurant opening later this year. 2 Canal; missrivernola .com

Mister Mao

Self-taught Cambodian American chef Sophina Uong’s new Uptown restaurant, which she runs with husband and partner William Greenwell, is described as a tropical roadhouse offering globally inspired takes on the Southern larder. With a menu that changes nightly, Uong’s creativity shines in dishes such as Kashmiri chile fried chicken; wagyu steak with turmeric smothered okra; pork chorizo maque choux; chilled octopus aguachile with cerveza jelly;

and Gulf shrimp with Sri Lankan coconut milk rice. Eclectic and “unapologetically inauthentic,” Mister Mao invites foodies to dine at this quirky charmer with an open mind. 4501 Tchoupitoulas; mistermao nola.com

San Lorenzo

The coastal Italian restaurant in the new 75-room Hotel

Saint Vincent (set in a landmark 1861 building in the Lower Garden District) is from Austin-based McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality. The menu beckons with dishes such as grilled Creole oysters; beef carpaccio with wild arugula and fried capers; burrata and caviar; linguine with clams; squid-ink spaghetti chitarra with crab and sea urchin; Gulf shrimp risotto; whole grilled snapper; and Prime Bistecca Fiorentina. The hotel also includes Elizabeth Street Café, an outpost of Austin’s French bakery and Vietnamese cafe. 1507 Magazine; saintvincentnola.com

The Chloe

The restaurant and hotel of the same name in Garden District has boutique chic written all over it. The 17-room inn quickly became a see-andbe-seen destination when it opened in late 2020. The restaurant’s modern Creole menu offers dishes such as potato-crusted oysters with malt aioli; shrimp étouffée dumplings; roast chicken with green harissa and celery root; grilled lemon fish with corn and tomatillos; and a classic double-stack burger. The house bar is the place for classic and modern cocktails and snacks such as cracklins and pimento cheese. 4125 St. Charles; thechloenola.com

Christian Horan Things are humming again in the Crescent City, including at the bar at Miss River, chef Alon Shaya’s elegant new restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans.

Virgin Hotels New Orleans Diners can enjoy bluefin tuna crudo with green tomatoes, tomato water and benne seeds at the Commons Club at Virgin Hotels New Orleans.

Hotel Saint Vincent Shrimp cocktail scapece with cauliflower and peppers is served at Hotel Saint Vincent restaurant San Lorenzo.

Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans Miss River at the Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans offers salt-crusted Gulf red snapper.

Yelp Shrimp étouffée dumplings are served at The Chloe restaurant at the boutique Garden District hotel of the same name.

Emeril's Chef Emeril Lagasse offers beef carpaccio with caviar at Emeril’s, his newly reopened signature restaurant.

Paprika Studios Grouper with sisho, gnudi, asparagus and sashi broth is on offer at Mister Mao.