City Council rejects Gabrielle’s petition to reopen on Henry Clay

The New Orleans City Council delivered a unanimous message Thursday to the owners of the former Gabrielle restaurant: Please reopen your restaurant, but not on Uptown’s Henry Clay Avenue. “There are many locations that would be appropriate,” said Councilwoman Susan Guidry, after a lengthy explanation of her reasons for opposing the Sonniers’ request to convert The Uptowner banquet hall into a revival of the Gabrielle. “I do not believe this is one.” Throughout his years of fighting to open at 438 Henry Clay Avenue, Greg Sonnier has long maintained that he bought the Uptowner building after Katrina-related flooding destroyed his old location under the impression that it could be operated as a restaurant, only to be told by the city afterward that it could only be a banquet hall. Guidry, however, specifically rejected this argument, saying Sonnier requested an assurance from its seller that the Uptowner could operate as a restaurant, was rejected and bought the building anyway.