Commons Club New Orleans, the Virgin Hotel’s New Orleans restaurant, has named Chris Borges its new executive chef. Borges was previously the executive chef of Josephine Estelle at the Ace Hotel.

Borges is from New Orleans and moved to the Bay Area of San Francisco for college. He received his biology degree from Stanford University and studied at San Francisco’s California Culinary Academy. Throughout his career, he has spent time at Infusion Bar & Restaurant and Cindy Pawlcyn’s Roti. He served as co-owner and executive chef of the Bay Area’s premier catering company, Taste Catering, and led the culinary vision for several high-profile events, including President Barack Obama’s Green Tech Dinner, Christina Aguilera‘s wedding, numerous Pixar movie premieres, and the Academy of Friends Oscar Gala.

Chris Borges. Photo courtesy of Commons Club.

Borges’ passion for food began when he was young.

“I grew up in New Orleans in a family full of people who cooked,” he said. “I was interested in cooking since I was a child but no one I knew did it professionally, so I never considered it as a career. But I fell in love with the idea of a professional career in food when I was out in San Francisco.”

Borges returned to New Orleans six years ago and took over the culinary operations at The Ace Hotel New Orleans as executive chef of Josephine Estelle and Seaworthy. He also helped open Maison de la Luz, overseeing both properties’ banquet operations and restaurants, The Alto and Bar Marilou.

The move to the Virgin Hotel seemed like a natural next step for Borges, who knew of a few former Ace employees who had begun working there.

“It’s been on my radar for a while because there’s quite a few Ace ex-pats who moved over when it opened,” he said. “I left the kitchen for a while and had been working as the general manager for JV Foods, a wholesale farm-to-table produce company that I used when I was a chef, but I had been looking to get back into the kitchen when the position at Virgin opened up.”

When developing the menu, Borges planned to create an experience with a New Orleans edge to appeal to locals while satisfying visitors who want an authentic New Orleans food experience. He wanted to include some food he grew up on and his take on some New Orleans favorites.

“Being a hotel restaurant, it’s always a challenge to capture the locals, so I wanted to create some dishes that might not be traditional New Orleans dishes, but would create a contemporary, familiar twist on some favorites,” Borges explained. “You won’t find a traditional gumbo on the menu, but I wanted to include some dishes I ate at home as a kid and try to contemporize them a bit.”

Some menu highlights include Paneed Veal with roasted broccoli, parsley, capers, white anchovy, and grana; Fried Brussels Sprouts Salad with lima beans, golden raisins, sourdough croutons, cardamom yogurt, and apple cider vinaigrette; house-made Spaghetti and Meatballs with lamb meatballs, red gravy, and pecorino; and BBQ Shrimp with Brown butter, fermented garlic, Espelette, lemon, and Bottarga bread crumbs.

Borges also recommends Wild Mushrooms with Gumbo z’herbes, autumn greens, and puffed rice “krispies.”

Commons Club. Photo courtesy of Commons Club.

“It’s my take on traditional Gumbo z’herbes,” Borges explained. “My version is vegan. Gumbo z’herbes as popularized by Dooky Chase has six or seven different greens and usually pork to make it good. In mine, I take a traditional Italian farro verde grain, which is smoky, cook the grains, use the grains in a different dish, and use the smoky, savory liquid that cooked the grains as the base of the gumbo. You still get that smoky flavor, but it’s vegetarian. We blend in kale, collards and other greens to make a completely vegetarian, bright green Gumbo z’herbes.”

Little Gem Salad. Photo by Kat Kimball courtesy of Commons Club.

Borges also recommends the restaurant’s Iberico Pork dish, flank steak made from acorn-fed pigs served on a bed of crab dirty rice, chard, sherry jus, and salsa verde. Borges’ version of dirty rice is made with seafood, including crab claw meat and crab fat made into a compound butter and stirred into the dish. The result is a rich entrée served with a sherry jus that brings the decadence to the next level.

The cocktail menu offers a selection of house cocktails such as Pop Shop, made with Aviation Gin, Meyer lemon aperitif, saffron, rosemary, orange bitters, and tonic; Cross Fire made with Ghost Tequila, Union Mezcal, Cassis Noir, lime, orange, and blackberry; and Mr. Espresso made with Ketel One Vodka, Evangeline’s Praline & Pecan liqueur, cold brew, and Averna Amaro. The restaurant’s bar program also includes classic cocktails, wine, and “zero proof” cocktails.

For the holidays, Commons Club will be offering a Réveillon menu throughout the month of December.

Commons Club New Orleans 500 Baronne Street (ground floor at Virgin Hotels New Orleans), (504) 603-8000. Open Monday and Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.