These 10 New Orleans restaurants opened since the new year, and you should know about them | Where NOLA Eats

A lot can happen in a few months, as we’ve all had dizzying, sometimes excruciating, sometimes uplifting opportunities to see living through the pandemic era.

In the realm of New Orleans restaurants, since the start of 2022 alone, we saw things all but grind to a halt from the omicron surge, the return to status quo, the arrival of Mardi Gras, the end of the last coronavirus safety mandates and finally a resurgent festival season.

We’ve also seen many new restaurants open. Some have long been in the works; others represent next-step evolution of their creators’ ambitions.

Altogether they have maintained what has long been a story of change, diversification and fresh talent pouring into the restaurant scene, one that not even the pandemic could pause for long.

Below is a bite-size taste of 10 that have debuted in the first four months of this year.

Bisutoro on Magazine

1581 Magazine St., (504) 766-9009

The name means bistro, but this Lower Garden District restaurant is the picture of a sushi bar — small, intimate, focused. It’s the latest from Tanya Hailey, an owner of downtown’s rollicking Rock-n-Sake. Bisutoro is a much more elevated approach, with a wide-ranging variety of fish brought in from around the world, including many rarely seen on local sushi menus.

You can put yourself in chef Ryan Smith’s hands for mixed sashimi platters or pick some of the signature rolls and cold composed dishes.

The claret-colored cured arctic char has a flavor just as deep as it looks, finished with a bit of fried caper lemon and dill, and the sea dream roll layers sea bream, spicy tuna and tempura green onion, and adds a fine herbs oil. Try the Baja hamachi with pico de gallo for a great burst of acid along with the fiery flicker of thin-sliced jalapeño on the fish.

Afrodisiac

5363 Franklin Ave., (504) 302-2090

What started as a food truck has grown into a full-service restaurant in Gentilly, and one that can play different roles in a neighborhood always eager for more options. Caron and Shaka Garel built a following by blending flavors from their respective Louisiana and Jamaican roots.

For instance, the shrimp stew mixes Creole flavor and island vibrancy beautifully, with lump shrimp mixing it up with smoked sausage and potatoes in the curry sauce. Jamaican fish has a bright, peppery escovitch sauce and the jerk chicken nachos make a fun bar snack.

The cottage-sized restaurant has a dedicated bar with original cocktails, many following a tropical theme, and opens to a large, lush open-air patio for dining and events.

Margot’s

1243 Frenchmen St., (504) 224-2892

It’s well past the nightlife stretch of Frenchmen Street, but this small neighborhood pizzeria is a destination in its own right.

You’re coming for wood-fired, Neapolitan style pies, with leopard print patterns of char-marked bubbles around the edge. The sourdough crust that gives just the right pull when you bite in.

The bar is top-notch, with classic and contemporary cocktails, a particular fixation on negroni variations and a small batch wine selection that is constantly changing.

The Gloriette

428 E. Boston St., Covington, (985) 202-8090

The Gloriette takes the place of Oxlot 9 in the Southern Hotel, a fixture in downtown Covington that can feel as much like a club for locals and lodgings for visitors. The executive chef is Steven Marsella, a veteran of the local culinary scene.

The menu is largely a mix of traditional French and Louisiana flavors, with dishes like the flounder with classic Grenobloise sauce (all butter, parsley, caper and lemon), a deep-dark and satisfying gumbo and the apple galette.

For something quite different, try the pork and clams Alentejana, a traditional Portuguese dish that feels right at home in the land of Creole sauces.

Rizzuto’s Ristorante & Chop House, Gretna

2020 Belle Chasse Highway, Gretna, (504)-766-8081

Last year, the Rizzuto family opened a pizzeria in Gretna and brought a few of the specialties from their more upscale Lakeview restaurant, Rizzuto’s Ristorante & Chop House. The pizzeria has now been converted to a second location of Rizzuto’s, serving the same mix of traditional Italian dishes and specialty steaks.

The king of the menu is the spinalis, the rib-eye cap, a luxurious steak, a swirl of marbling and alternating textures across a deeply flavorful cut. But don’t miss the meatball either, plated up on its own (or with pasta) on a bed of ricotta.

The restaurant is hidden between a daiquiri shop and a self-storage unit and gives a speakeasy vibe without even trying. Those who remember when this address was O’Brien’s Grille will be glad to again have a high-caliber steakhouse in these parts.

Queen Trini Lisa

4200 D’Hemecourt St., (504) 345-2058

Lisa Nelson finds harmony in connecting the cooking of the Caribbean’s southernmost island, Trinidad and Tobago, and its northernmost port, New Orleans. Her new restaurant on a Mid-City back street showcases this deliciously. Her barbecue jerk chicken pulses with earthy, peppery spice and layers on dark, smoky, light sweet barbecue sauce.

Her rendition of fish and chips is among the finest you’ll find in New Orleans. Try the doubles, a Trinbagonian street food classic, with puffy turmeric flatbread folded around (or doubled over) a curried chickpea chana and a cooling cucumber chutney.

Breakaway’s R&B

2529 Dauphine St., (504) 571-5179

This Marigny bar and restaurant opened in January but is immediately familiar as a continuation of the spirit of New Orleans neighborhood joints.

Chef Paul Artigues focuses on old-school New Orleans flavors — the daube po-boy for one, or the remarkable crawfish étouffée (a frequent special). But he also has a modern sensibility for how many people eat today, so there are vegan options (including a gorgeous and not-wimpy-at-all citrus spinach salad) and late-night hours.

The bar mixes boozy sno-ball cocktails, which sound like just the thing sometimes, doesn’t it?

The Rabbit’s Foot

2042 Prytania St.

Conceived as a “modern bodega,” this café and food market opened in March in the former, long-vacant Lower Garden District address that had been a Zara’s grocery.

It’s a place for a pastry and an exquisite coffee, a quick sandwich, and a few items for home or maybe a country loaf from an artisan baker.

The short opening kitchen menu has a breakfast sandwich modeled after the New York bodega staple of breakfast rolls (egg, bacon and cheese on a chewy roll), bagels heavily mounded with cream cheese and a few lunch sandwiches. The chicken salad sandwich is chunky, meaty and sluiced with vinaigrette for a little extra zing.

Bao Mi

2000 Tulane Ave., (504) 302-7964

Vietnamese flavors get fast-casual treatment and some next-generation twists at this counter-service restaurant embedded in the medical complex along Tulane Avenue, just lakeside of South Claiborne Avenue.

There’s traditional banh mi and others filled with pulled pork or “pew pew shrimp” with a chile-spiked mayo sauce. The “KFC” bao are taco-like bundles of steamed bun filled with crunchy-crisp chicken with the tang of soy sauce and garlic.

For a more substantial lunch, get the bun, a rice noodle bowl strewn with vegetables, fish sauce and, for one version, garlic butter shrimp. Note that Bao Mi is open weekdays only.

Tava Indian Street Food

611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 766-9612

Dosa sets the scene at chef Manish Patel’s new downtown restaurant, the evolution of his one-time food hall stand. This lacy, toasty, delicate pancakes are made from fermented rice and lentil batter before your eyes at the bar, and served as platters to rip apart with curry, spicy lamb or chickpea stew.

The rest of the menu takes a playful fusion approach, with Kashmiri chiles revving up the chicken wings and tots crossed with Indian chaat. The Indian-inspired cocktails make the bar worth a visit on its own. See my full report on Tava here.