10 July 2024
Oysters Saint John. | Randy Schmidt/Saint John
Eric Cook’s acclaimed contemporary Creole restaurant, closed in May, will soon be reborn in the Central Business District
After closing its doors in the French Quarter in May 2024 with promises to reopen elsewhere in New Orleans, chef Eric Cook’s acclaimed second restaurant, Saint John, has landed new permanent digs downtown.
Saint John will reopen this fall at 715 St. Charles Avenue, the former home of restaurant Le Chat Noir, which closed last summer. The location has a similarly large footprint as Saint John’s Decatur Street address (though it’s only one story); a modern space with two bar areas on either side of the entrance and one spacious, open dining room in the back. In a press release sent Wednesday, July 10, Cook touts the more accessible, central location in the CBD, saying “We’ve got walk-on access to the streetcar, increased parking, and Mardi Gras Parade Route views.”
Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA
The dining room at Le Chat Noir.
Cook opened Saint John at 1117 Decatur Street in 2021, a follow-up to his acclaimed restaurant, Gris-Gris, located on Magazine Street in the LGD. It’s a Creole restaurant through and through, an homage to Cook’s Louisiana upbringing and informed by his and chef de cuisine Daren Porretto’s research of 18th-century Creole cuisine. Still, Cook and Porretto’s interpretations felt modern, a shining example of updated classics that offered an approachable introduction to Creole cuisine. For example, the Oysters Saint John combined three traditional preparations of oysters on one plate: fried, poached in cream, and oyster dressing served in puff pastry.
That signature dish, along with Saint John favorites like the Creole beef daube, baked macaroni pie with red gravy, slow-braised smothered turkey necks, and roasted garlic caesar are also all set to be on the menu in the new location. There will probably be more from the original menu on the new one, a representative tells Eater, but menu details will be finalized later this summer.
Prior to closing in May, citing factors like staffing shortages, lease rates, and the impending summer slowdown, Saint John experienced some adversity at its French Quarter home. In November 2023, a dispute over a $40,000 power bill from Entergy led to the restaurant’s abrupt closure when the utility provider shut off power at the address. Saint John reopened 48 hours later, in large part due to the uproar and attention garnered from Cook’s social media post about the matter. A New Orleans Public Service Commissioner got involved, helping broker a “resolution” between the two parties and leading to Entergy restoring power at the restaurant. When Cook closed Saint John this past spring, he noted it was not due to further billing issues with Entergy.
An exact opening date on St. Charles Avenue is forthcoming later this summer, potentially coinciding with the release of Cook’s first cookbook, Modern Creole: A Taste of New Orleans Culture and Cuisine, set to be released on September 17.
“It’s time to show this city what Saint John can really be,” says Cook.