Casa Borrega (submitted photo)
Jean-Paul Villere
Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard has been the on-again, off-again comeback kid for a few decades now in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans. Originally a retail corridor known simply as another leg of Dryades, suburban growth and inner city decay atrophied this dusty avenue wedged between the Lower Garden and the Warehouse districts. In the years I’ve known it, none of the original merchants from yesteryear remain (unlike Freret where the street-namesaked hardware store boasts an unparalleled longevity of operations, over half a century and counting, yes?). But tomorrow another door opens toward the promising future in a not-so-little venture known as Casa Borrega. Here’s a quick Q & A I conducted with the owners via email to bring you up to speed:
Q: Who are you and what do you guys do?
A: Linda Stone is from San Francisco, and this year will have been in New Orleans 28 years (except for a few years in Texas). She has years of environmental experience including founding The Green Project, working as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Affairs under Marc Morial, and is currently serving as director of the New Orleans office of Global Green USA. Hugo Montero, from Mexico City, has been in New Orleans 25 years, and in that time has worked as a teacher, writer, and for many years, an artist. Casa Borrega is his latest project–a labor of love over the past 4 1/2 years.
Q: Why OCH? When did the notion to do this solidify?
A: Barrister’s Gallery used to be located on OCH in 1999, at which time Hugo had several shows there, while living and having his studio at Venus Gardens. Linda’s good friend Sandra Berry had The Neighborhood Gallery on OCH at that time as well, and we met while Hugo lived on OCH, right across the street from our building. Back in the late 90’s Ashe and Reconcile had just started up and everyone thought the renaissance was going happen then. It just took a little more time.
In 2002 Linda moved to San Antonio to take a position directing a new environmental/energy non-profit. There, we created a similar vision, renovating a home in an area near downtown, where we also operated a gallery. At that time the area was really run down, but now it is a vibrant art district and we just sold our renovated home there for a profit.
We moved back to New Orleans post-Katrina and wanted to create something similar here. We were not interested in doing a project where everyone else was doing stuff–like Freret, Oak, St. Claude or Magazine–and it just so happened that the building across the street from Ashe was for sale–Hugo remembered it from when he lived upstairs in Venus Gardens. We thought there was an opportunity to build something on this abandoned yet lovely stretch of street, so we bought the blighted building from Felicity Street Redevelopment Corporation and began a major renovation.
Q: What makes green building ‘green’?
A: The greenest thing about the renovation is that 90% of the building materials are salvaged, coming from every re-use outlet in New Orleans including The Green Project, Habitat ReStore, Preservation Resource Center, the Bank, Old City Building Center, Craig’s list and the street! In addition, there are numerous fixtures, doors and windows from Texas and Mexico, including wrought iron chandeliers, stained glass, and hand hewn tables and columns. Other than the materials, the gutted house was insulated by the Louisiana Green Corps as a teaching experience, mini-splits provide super energy efficient air conditioning and heat pump heating, water is heated on demand by two tankless gas water heaters, the plumbing fixtures are low-flow and the lighting, fans and appliances are Energy Star.
Q: Historically latin fare in the city might be seen as thin in its offerings, I remember El Arroyo out of Austin shuttered within months of opening and Cucos is a memory. Tell me about your menu and where you guys will be going with it.
A: Latin fare in New Orleans has two epochs: pre and post-Katrina. Ironically, music and trend-wise Frenchman started with Latin music in the 90’s, but the Mexican/Latin restaurants never did well pre-Katrina. After the first post-Katrina taco truck appeared, a trend began that continues to grow. Taco trucks have morphed into food trucks of every kind and Mexican and Latin restaurants are proliferating all over.
In general, mainstream New Orleans never cared about Latin culture. For example, Cinco de Mayo, which is a holiday in many parts of the U.S., just happens to be the second week of Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Now, as the Latin population has grown in the U.S., this segment has taken on more politcal power and is beginning to gain respect. New Orleans is a bit behind but we are moving in this direction as well–for example Councilmember Cantrell recently held a convening of Latin leaders to discuss relevant issues in her district and city-wide.
Latin food for us is not a trend all over, but rather a cultural matter. The people who have tried and failed with the Mexican/Latin food have not captured the richness and true identify of the culture. This is what we are attempting to do at Casa Borrega. As far as our menu, I have attached a copy, but the general idea is Mexico City street food. For the summer we are offering antojitos, which are small plates often eaten in the evenings. See the menu for details. In the fall we will expand our hours to include breakfast and lunch and be open six days per week including a Sunday brunch.
Q: Where do you see OCH in the next 3 years?
A: In an answer to an article by Owen Courreges a couple years ago you said that the biggest hurdle to OCH was having an anchor like Cure on Freret or Jacques Imos on Oak. We believe that Casa Borrega’s opening is going to spur further development on OCH and help make existing and developing businesses even more successful. In three years, OCH will be bustling with business and people will be looking for the next new frontier.
(submitted photo)
Jean-Paul Villere is the owner of Villere Realty and Du Mois Gallery on Freret Street and a married father of four girls. In addition to his Wednesday column at UptownMessenger.com, he also shares his family’s adventures sometimes via pedicab or bicycle on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Great coverage of a great story, JPV. I can’t wait to dine at Casa Borrega! This city is in dire need of the style of latin fare described here.