Parent company, the Emeril Group, plans to close the former James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Award Nominee, Emeril’s Restaurant, next month to begin renovations, gutting the interior of 800 Tchoupitoulas St. to make way for significant changes. The company will temporarily close the location on July 15, aiming to reopen the site two months later in late September.
Emeril’s introduced a new culinary direction and service style last year, guiding the location’s renovations. Emeril’s now serves a series of set-course, chef’s tasting menus, with the only a la carte option served in the bar (now called the Salon). Prices are also higher, with tasting menus currently set at $165 and $185 per person, with optional wine pairings extras.
The upcoming renovations will bring a new kitchen designed around the restaurant’s tasting menu format. The dining room will be reconfigured around smaller tables, and the bar will be redesigned and have its own entrance on Julia Street. The company works on the project with local architects Rozas Ward and hospitality design and consulting firm JEM West.
When Emeril’s Restaurant reopens, it will serve two chef-tasting menus, classic and seasonal. The Salon will serve a menu of small plates drawn from the culinary team’s favorite dishes worldwide and give access to the restaurant’s wine list, which is a Wine Spectator Grand Award winner. The Emeril Group said it was “providing weekly closure pay and offering a retention bonus to all of our hourly employees who are actively employed at the time of the closure.”
Meril, Lagasse’s more casual restaurant nearby at 424 Girod St., remains open and recently resumed Friday lunch (11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.) and expanding brunch from Sunday to Saturday and Sunday (11 a.m.-2 p.m.).
Lagasse and his company also have a new recently-announced downtown restaurant in the works. Emeril’s Brasserie is now taking shape within Harrah’s, part of the downtown casino’s transformation into a Caesars. It will be Lagasse’s first French-inspired restaurant and the first restaurant in the casino accessible to all ages, with its entrance from the street. Emeril’s Brasserie is slated to open late this year.
