Gabrielle on Henry Clay, Funky Butt on Freret both set aside

Posted by Robert Morris at 10:52 am arts, books and music, business, city government, court, food and drink

Mar 182013

Chef Greg Sonnier is abandoning his attempted resurrection of Gabrielle restaurant at The Uptowner reception hall on Henry Clay Avenue to return to a French Quarter kitchen, and the Funky Butt nightclub project has also halted, according to recent reports.

Sonnier has accepted the executive chef position at the new Kingfish restaurant at Chartres and Conti being opened by the owners of Royal House in mid-April, reports Susan Langenhennig of the Times-Picayune. With the move, Sonnier is letting go of his protracted legal fight with the city over the zoning and permitting for The Uptowner, placing the building on the market and updating parts of the Gabrielle menu for Kingfish, Langenhennig reports.

The building at 4716 Freret will not become a new home for the shuttered Rampart Street nightclub Funky Butt, after the club owner was unable to meet the terms of the lease for personal reasons, building owner Greg Ensslen told New Orleans CityBusiness. Ensslen is now seeking a new tenant for the building, CityBusiness reports.

http://www.facebook.com/AndrewWardNOLA Andrew Ward

There ya go, the detrimental effects of the abusive alcohol moratoria and corrupted zoning codes. It’s OK, it’s not like people in Uptown like to eat things or drink things or listen to music ever.

Maybe the “neighbourhood associations” colluding with Guidry & Head to facilitate these continued assaults on our cultures will get together to introduce something at the next City Council meeting to rename everything between the River & Claiborne “New Metairie”.

After all, they won’t be satisfied until we are nothing but a suburb with no place to get a drink or a meal after 9pm. I’m sure in “New Metairie” every place will be a ‘family restaurant’. You won’t be able to enjoy a cocktail with your meal or go out to eat at a sane hour, but you’ll enjoy the pleasure of hearing irresponsible breeders’ infants screaming in your ears whilst you try to down whatever fried midwestern delicacies these places will sell you.
itsthecase

Andrew, I wholeheartedly agree. Bars and restaurants excited about Freret have to realize the NA has a rule that bars can not be open past midnight on weekdays. (and 2 AM on weekends). While the 2AM rule is not very New Orleanian, it’s sitll doable, but CLOSE at midnight on a Thursday? C’mon! How are these establishments to compete?