Gabrielle’s FateBy Todd A. Price In September,Chef Greg Sonnier returned from a frustrating trip to City Hall, hung a “For Sale” on the banquet facility he had purchased Uptown on Henry Clay Avenue and Laurel Street and decided he would never be able to reopen Gabrielle Restaurant. After a few weeks, Sonnier changed his mind. “I can’t give up on New Orleans,” he says. “I’ve been here my whole life.” Sonnier, along with his wife Mary, ran Gabrielle in Mid-City for 14 years, garnering national attention and a loyal local following. When the levees broke, the original location was flooded and a tree damaged the kitchen’s exhaust system. “We were kind of always band-aiding the place,” Sonnier says. “It was a hard building to work in.” In March, the Sonniers purchased the Uptowner, a reception hall down the street from their home. Instead of the cramped space in Mid-City, the new building had old New Orleans elegance with a small bar area opening onto a courtyard and a dining room with chandeliers, polished stone floors and 19th Century gilded mirrors running from floor to ceiling. They believed that the pre-existing business license, which read “Full Service Restaurant (Table Service),” would allow them to operate Gabrielle there. After the change of ownership, Greg Sonnier was issued a temporary permit for a restaurant, but when he returned for a permanent license he was told by the Office of Safety and Permits that he could only operate a banquet hall. According to Sonnier, the city could not provide him with any specific rules or regulations on how to properly operate a banquet facility. “We’ll make a go of it being a catering and reception hall in the beginning,” Sonnier says, but he will not accept a business description that he believes lacks a clear definition. (OffBeat was unable to reach the Office of Safety and Permits.) A group of neighbors, led by lawyer and former city council staffer Mike Sherman, hope that Sonnier never runs a restaurant or reception hall on Henry Clay Avenue. The neighborhood has an “extreme parking crisis,” according to a letter that Sherman and nine other residents sent to Councilmembers-at-Large Arnie Fielkow and Oliver Thomas and area Concilmember Shelly Midura. Sherman says the traffic from Children’s Hospital and nearby businesses forces some neighbors to park several blocks from their homes. He also attributes recent accidents to the traffic created by these businesses. The Uptowner does not have off-street parking. The residents are not opposed to restaurants in their neighborhood. “We love Clancy’s and Nardo’s,” says Sherman. “It’s a case-by-case determination.” Sherman’s group believes that an additional restaurant or continued use of the Uptowner reception hall would harm property values and, according to the letter, their “quality of life would be destroyed.” Sherman’s group collected signatures of fifty-four neighbors opposed to Gabrielle.
The group argues that the Uptowner should be stripped of its non-conforming use status, which allows commercial properties to operate in areas zoned as residential. The previous owner, they argue, lost the status by not holding events “four hours per day, five days per week,” as stated in the city codes. This interpretation of the law would seem to prohibit almost any reception hall from operating as a non-conforming use. Sherman claims to speak for the entire neighborhood, writing that “the neighborhood is absolutely united in this effort,” but the Audubon Riverside Neighbors, which represents the area, has no official position. The group is studying the issue and meeting with Sonnier. Until it votes on the matter, the association will offer no public statement. Shelly Midura also has no official position and asks merely that the city clarify the situation. Midura’s Chief of Staff Alex Morgan, however, agrees with Sherman’s interpretation of the law. “We’ve been traveling around promoting New Orleans, and we’ve done that our whole 14 years of existence,” Sonnier says. “And now, when it’s time that I need help, there is none.” Christmas TimeKnow someone missing a taste of New Orleans? Can’t be in the Crescent City for Christmas? Order a few sweet or salty delights. Hubig’s Pies sells fried pies by the dozen and T-Shirts with its portly pie man. Pralines by Jean ships three flavors of pralines, and Southern Candy Makers creates everything from fudge to spiced nuts. Tee-Eva’s (tee-evapralines.com) can ship pralines, pies, or an entire feast of red beans and jambalaya. Central Grocery (866-620-0174) sends out muffulettas and olive salad. The Gumbo Shop puts together a gift basket with their cookbook, a seasoning mix and hot sauce. Both Zatarain’s and Pure Cajun have plenty of ingredients for making a Louisiana meal. For Christmas delivery, most places need to receive orders by the second week of December. Other NewsPampy’s has reopened on N. Broad Street… Maxim magazine named Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse one of the 10 best steakhouses in America…Check the French Quarter Festival website for a complete list of Reveillon menus. For an alternative, book a table for the Delachaise’s sure-to-surprise “The Grinch Who Stole Creole Christmas” dinner… Chef Mike Fennelly, of Mike’s on the Avenue fame, has returned to New Orleans—sort of. He’ll be checking in regularly at Mike’s on Lee Circle, where Chef de Cuisine Kate Chadwick prepares Fennelly’s menu inspired by Asia and the Pacific Islands… The Emeril Lagasse Foundation raised $2.5 million and announced $320,000 worth of grants to area charities at the annual Carnivale du Vin in late October. Final Thoughts1) I don’t care if it’s December, I still can’t get enough of Brocato’s gelato. 2) Isn’t it odd that GQ’s food critic recently scolded New Orleans for loving food too much? 3) The king cakes are coming soon! Dining Out: Ignatius Eatery and GroceryIgnatius Eatery and Grocery would have been an oasis in our exile. The menu includes everything you might miss outside Louisiana: from jambalaya and muffulettas to red beans and roast beef po-boys. The freshly decorated room tries hard for an old New Orleans air with statues of saints perched in the corners and walls faux finished with nicotine stains. Bottles of Barq’s are served with little glasses, just like at Casamento’s down the street. The stereo plays “Hey Pocky Way” and “Iko Iko.” Smack in the middle of Magazine Street near Napoleon, the restaurant’s embrace of all things New Orleans seems overeager. Slices of Leidenheimer bread in a brown paper bag are fine. A bottle of beer in a paper bag is charming, but pushing it. Serving wine in a paper bag verges into parody. The menu clings to the classics, and plenty of people will compare the food to what comes out of their mama’s kitchen. The crawfish étouffée promised “fresh Louisiana crawfish tails,” but that didn’t stop the dish from being too one-dimensional. (Actually, Ignatius uses fresh Louisiana crawfish when possible, the local crawfish that were caught and frozen during crawfish season, and only uses imports as a last resort.) Oddly, the Creole jambalaya, a little dry the day I tried it, had a big scoop of corn macque choux in the middle. The earthy jambalaya didn’t benefit from the sweet contrast of corn. Ignatius certainly has dishes that will bring me back. Open on Mondays, it’s a good spot for a creamy plate of red beans and rice. Ignatius imports good boudin links from Cajun country, which can be damn near impossible to find in New Orleans. I could eat the potato salad by the bucket. The large potato chunks mixed with mayonnaise, bacon and scallions almost taste like a well-dressed baked potato. On the chicken salad po-boy, the tangy pickles and layer of Creole mustard add some zing to the homey main ingredient. Uptown New Orleans needs more casual lunch and dinner spots. Ignatius could soon become a fixture. It just needs to work out a few kinks in the kitchen and relax. When New Orleans is right outside the door, we don’t need to be reminded of the city every minute of our meal. 4200 Magazine St., 896-2225, Thr.-Mon. 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Subscribe to offBeat and receive a FREE JazzFest CD! |
