Ian McNulty: In a year of much change, many New Orleans area restaurants changed hands

When a popular restaurant closes in this town it can be big news. The same goes when word that a well-known restaurant will continue, though with new owners.

We saw that play out frequently in 2023 at widely different restaurants. Each one may have landed as a surprise, but the overall arc of the stories running across these moves is not surprising at all.

Tumultuous. Vexing. Unprecedented. These are a few of the words you could use to describe the last few years for all of us, and that has registered with an especially sharp edge in the hospitality business.

It is no wonder that people who may have been on the verge of retiring found their way to that decision earlier, or that others saw opportunities to sell perhaps that much more appealing.

Restaurants, the best of them anyway, carry some of the character and personality of the people who created them and run them. Handing that over successfully can be hard. But examples from this year show it can be done, at least based on the early going. For us, New Orleans restaurant aficionados, the upshot is these valued places continue to carry on.

Pascal's Manale, 1838 Napoleon Ave.: One of the city's oldest restaurants changed hands for the second time in three years when Dickie Brennan & Co. bought this Uptown institution from the estate of Ray Brandt, sealing the deal on St. Patrick's Day. Brandt, the auto dealership magnate, had acquired the restaurant in 2019 from the DeFelice family, its fourth-generation owners. Brandt was gravely ill at that time and died just days later.

The restaurant’s story began in 1913 when Frank Manale opened what he called Manale’s Restaurant in a former grocery. His nephew Pascal Radosta took over in 1937 following Manale’s death and later added his name over the door, creating the unusual linguistic construction under which Pascal’s Manale has been known ever since.

That name didn't change under the new owners, despite jokes going around that it would become “Dickie’s Pascal’s Manale.” The historic restaurant endures, from the stand-up oyster bar by the door to the BBQ shrimp on so many dining room tables.

Station 6, 105 Old Hammond Highway: This is among the best restaurants in Jefferson Parish, and one of the best anywhere in the area for local seafood. When founders Allison Vega-Knoll and Drew Knoll sold it after seven years in business by the Bucktown lakefront, they left the restaurant in good hands.

A group of business partners that includes chef Aaron Burgau (of Patois, Charlie’s Steak House, Central City BBQ and now Las Cruces Tex-Mex) took over and effectively left a successful model in place. We could use more upscale/casual restaurants of this caliber, especially with its treatment of the local catch, so we’re lucky that this one has a next chapter.

Fury’s Restaurant, 724 Martin Behrman Ave., Metairie: Fury’s is as old-school as it gets, dating back to 1983 and channeling a style and approach for local seafood restaurants that feels much older.

Proprietor John Fury Jr. decided to retire at age 70 and sold the restaurant to a group of new owners that includes Ronnie Laporte (the former cop who started Blue Dot Donuts) and Marcus Piccirillo, who wanted to keep it the same restaurant, with a few upgrades here and there to keep the story going.

“People come for the food, but they develop relationships with the staff too. You can’t replicate a place like this,” Piccirillo told me.

Gautreau’s Restaurant, 1728 Soniat St.: While keeping a low profile, Gautreau’s has consistently been a high-aiming restaurant with a devoted local following and a style all its own. For 30 years that’s been directed by Patrick Singley. He and his wife Rebecca sold it this fall to a new ownership group led by Bill Kearney and Jay Adams.

The restaurant returned in November with Katie Adams (Jay’s daughter) as general manager and Rob Mistry as the new chef. It’s early days here, but they are promising, with the hallmarks of Gautreau’s refined approach still intact and a new vein of global influences (especially Indian) wending through the cuisine.

High Hat Café, 4500 Freret St.: This seems much older than its 12 years on the calendar It's achieved a role in its neighborhood usually reserved for much older restaurants too.

So there was a sigh of relief when I learned it would be sold by founders Chip Apperson and Adolfo Garcia to Fredo Nogueira (chef at nearby Vals, Cure and the French Quarter’s Cane & Table) and Ryan Iriarte (High Hat’s longtime manager).

The only discernible change here is on the specials board, which, of course, changes all the time anyway with the seasons. That’s another reason to love this modern classic in our midst.

Larder Gourmet Market + Eatery, 3005 Veterans Blvd., Metairie: This modern upscale deli was a great addition for Metairie, and another creation of Station 6 co-founder Allison Vega-Knoll, who developed it in 2020 in conjunction with chef Chris Wilson.

BRG hospitality bought it this year and has been progressively putting its own stamp on the concept. There’s still a deli case and baked goods for home, though it’s more of a restaurant now than a market, and another brunch option for Metairie.

The Kitchen Table Café, 7005 St Claude Ave, Arabi: In addition to everything else the community has endured in the past few years, Arabi has had to contend with two tornado strikes in a single year in 2022. Fortunately, this fine neighborhood restaurant made it through.

It also made the change over to new owners, when founders Dana Cavato and Kevin Hackett sold the restaurant to Melissa and Chad Blanchard, of Parish Diner in Chalmette. It continues along the same lines with elevated Louisiana comfort food, and with its nice outdoor patio and live music nights too.

Congregation Coffee, 240 Pelican Ave.: Congregation is a two-part comeback story. It is a café in Algiers Point and also the brand for a wholesale coffee roaster based Uptown. Eliot Guthrie closed both down last spring, hinting that someone may take over.

That someone turned out to be Patrick Brennan, son of restaurateur Ralph Brennan (of Brennan’s Restaurant and Ralph’s on the Park, among others). The younger Brennan left the family hospitality company to bring Congregation back as his own venture. The beans are rolling again, and as of December the coffee shop in the Point is back open too.

Oak & Ale, 8118 Oak St.: You may already know Oak and Ale under two distinct names. That would be Oak Wine Bar and Ale on Oak. The two businesses shared a patio and common ownership with Katie Winters, Patrick Winters and Shawn Haddad.

They still function that way, though now the owners are David Demarest, a partner in Bayou Wine Garden and Bayou Beer Garden, and Jillian Arena and Morgan Scalco, two managers from those Mid-City bars.

They’re bringing some of that experience here, combining systems, keeping the menu across both wine bar and beer bar and progressing with plans to upgrade and expand the outdoor patio areas. And yes, it’s all under one name now, Oak & Ale.

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