In the last several years we’ve seen a variety of restaurants open in New Orleans. There are places that serve raw or raw-adjacent fish; places that serve ironic ethnic food; places that serve sandwiches and of course places that serve craft cocktails and very small plates of curated canned food.
I think we’re deserving of even more exotic choices, and thus without seeking credit I present to you restaurant ideas that are sure to take off:
Escargot to Go is not just a catchy name, it’s the latest craze in Belgium and parts of Luxembourg. If you’ve ever been strolling down an avenue, thinking to yourself, “if only I had a paper cone of snails topped with curry sauce,” you’re in luck, because that is just one of the options at the new eatery opening soon in the “Sauvagelle” condominium-shared workspace project in the “No-Mark” district.
Biscuit & Waffle is, similarly, set to open its 452nd location in the We-Mark-So office and condominium building in the West Market South neighborhood in January 2021. Biscuit & Waffle, which started in Atlanta as a vegan alternative to restaurants serving fried chicken and waffles, is sure to be a hit among the condo-dwellers and ironically homeless. Vegan biscuits may sound like a bad idea, but so does fascism.
Two years ago I predicted Peruvian cuisine would be the next big thing in New Orleans. I was only partly correct, given that we have only three Peruvian restaurants in town now. But my other prediction: that Azerbaijani food was never going to catch on here, turned out to be 100 percent correct. WHO’S LAUGHING NOW, Azerbaijan? Ain’t nobody eating no Plov ’round here.
One place I am definitely excited to see open is the Insectarium, because eating bugs is good for us and good for the planet. I do have a bit of a problem with the concept in practice, however. It’s one thing to eat fried crickets at a food stall in Mexico City; it’s another entirely to catch your own termites using a small stick and while forced to wear an aardvark costume. That’s the sort of thing that puts me off my food.
Finally, I am pleased to announce that The Obvious Pickle is scheduled to open in the Bywater sometime in 2020. Their motto is “we can pickle it,” and they take that motto a lot more seriously than you’d think from a place called “The Obvious Pickle.” I mean, we all like a good pickle, but do we really need a 30 minute lecture on fermentation every time we pull a Kosher dill out of the jar? Perhaps we do?
Do you have an idea for a new restaurant? If so, feel free to email me your idea and/or leave a comment below
