Saint John is the latest restaurant from chef Eric Cook. He’s also the culinary mastermind behind the Magazine Street restaurant Gris-Gris, a popular destination for Southern cuisine since it opened in 2018.

Saint John is a Creole concept located at 1117 Decatur Street in a building that was formerly home to Maximo’s, an Italian restaurant that opened in the late 1980s.

Cook was born and raised in New Orleans. After serving six years in the U.S. Marine Corps, he attended the John Folse Culinary Institute. He was mentored by Mike Roussel at Brennan’s Restaurant and served as sous chef and chef de partie at Commander’s Palace. Cook has also served as executive chef for The National World War II Museum’s American Sector, Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House, Tommy’s Cuisine and N.O.S.H.

Saint John, named for Bayou Saint John, the waterway that bisects the neighborhood that Cook and his wife call home, features distinctive Creole fare. Cook drew inspiration from the standard dishes he found in the myriad New Orleans cookbooks that he inherited from his grandmother.

Cook’s goal is to offer authentic New Orleans dishes at a restaurant where locals can find a familiar meal. Saint John occupies a two-story French Quarter building where Cook serves up shrimp étouffée, Creole beef daube, and chicken and shrimp maque choux.

“The recipe for the shrimp étouffée is so simple, but it’s authentic,” Cook said. “When I saw the recipe in my grandmother’s cookbook, I knew that was going to be the recipe we were going to use. It’s so uniquely New Orleans.”

Cook took the recipes that his grandmother bookmarked and worked them into the menu at Saint John. He’s now sharing the family recipes on which he was raised with his customers. He wants the dishes to be as special and authentic to the people he serves as they are to his family.

Another menu highlight is Oysters Saint John, a signature dish that had a name before the restaurant had a coat of paint on the walls. The dish is oysters prepared three ways—poached in double cream, crispy fried and an oyster dressing in vol-au-vent.

“The dish is something that I had wanted to do for a very long time,” Cook said. “It found a home at Saint John and it’s the signature appetizer at the restaurant. It gives you that holiday feel of oyster dressing or a family wedding, like those oyster patties that get passed around at gatherings.”

Cook wants Saint John to be a destination for locals, a place where New Orleanians can find food they grew up eating. “We want to keep the spirit of the New Orleans table alive. We want to serve the local fare.”

The bar menu, crafted by bar manager Dan Brooks, includes a selection of unique cocktails that perfectly fit the restaurant’s mood. Right Place, Wrong Time, named for Dr. John’s hit song, is a different take on an old fashioned, made with bourbon, blood orange liqueur, cherry liqueur, orange cordial and tobacco bitters. La Vie En Rose is made with citrus vodka, rosemary syrup, Lillet, and strawberry cordial.

There’s also a selection of mocktails for patrons who prefer a non-alcoholic drink. Floral Fizz is a whole hibiscus and rosebud sweet tea topped with soda and mint. Cider No. 9 is a house made apple-pie shrub served toddy style.

Saint John, in many ways, has the feel of coming home. Dining there very much feels like spending time in an old New Orleans restaurant, even though it’s only been open a few months. The atmosphere is friendly and welcoming and, although the decor is modern, it doesn’t feel exclusive.

Saint John was previously serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, but Cook made the difficult decision to dial back on lunch for the time being. The decision came due to staffing issues and the desire to give the current crew a break.

“It was a tough decision, but we were getting beat up,” he said. “My staff has been working so hard and I want to protect them. I could see that they needed a break, so we decided to pull back and regroup.”

Cook recognizes that all restaurants are struggling with staffing issues and general problems related to the pandemic. He knows that Saint John and Gris-Gris aren’t alone in their staffing issues and acknowledges that the past two years have been a challenge.

“Survival is everything,” he said. “Success is in longevity. The grind is every day because tomorrow is always going to be there. It’s about doing what we can do today to making the lives of our staff better.”

As for the future, Cook is adding another restaurant to his family of eateries. Julia Brown will be located at the new Arrive Hotel currently in development in the Bywater. The restaurant, named for the voodoo priestess of the same name, is slated to open in October. It will be Cook’s third restaurant in four years.

“Julia Brown will be a more elevated approach to our heritage and culture,” Cook said. “We’re going to walk the line on fine dining. It will be casual, but it will be a larger experience.”

Cook credits his wife, Robyn, with laying the blueprint for his restaurant concepts.

“She’s an archaeological researcher when it comes to history and voodoo around the South and New Orleans,” he said. “She’s involved in it and Julia Brown is one of those stories that we just fell in love with. We knew we wanted to name a restaurant after her.”

Cook is excited about the future and said that New Orleans is a vital city that doesn’t back down in the face of adversity. He thinks that the city will get through these current challenges in the same way it has gotten through everything else.

“In New Orleans there’s that history and the sense that we got a head start on everyone else. We’ve been through so much for so long that winning and survival is in our DNA.”

Saint John, 1117 Decatur Street, (504) 581-8120.

Hours: Wednesday and Thursday, 4–9 p.m.; Friday 4–10 p.m.; Saturday brunch, 11 a.m.–4 p.m., Saturday dinner, 6–10 p.m.; Sunday brunch, 11 a.m.–4 p.m., Sunday dinner, 6–9 p.m. Happy hour, weekdays 4–6 p.m., weekends 3–6 p.m.