BRG Hospitality is opening a new restaurant in the New Orleans Central Business District, and it will mark John Besh's return to the public eye years after he stepped out of the limelight amid a sexual misconduct scandal.
Delacroix Fish Camp & Bar is slated to open in early 2025, possibly in time for Super Bowl LIX.
The restaurant's menu will focus on Louisiana seafood for guests to enjoy as they admire views of the Mississippi River from its glass-lined dining room and large, open-air patio.
So where is this restaurant going to be?
The address is 2 Canal Street in Spanish Plaza. The restaurant will give new life to a years-vacant building building between the Riverwalk Outlets mall and the Canal Street ferry terminal.
The last business to call the space home was Poppy's Crazy Lobster, which closed in 2018.
BRG said Delacroix will have an oyster bar, seating inside for 125 and a patio with seating for 80.
Reviving Spanish Plaza
The New Orleans City Council in February 2024 approved a deal to allow the operator of the Riverwalk Mall, RockStep Capital, to raise up to $25 million to invest in new retail, restaurant and entertainment venues at Spanish Plaza.
Andy Weiner, RockStep CEO, said that the plan was to turn the sparse area surrounding the plaza into a hub of commercial activity by 2025.
In the last few years, Spanish Plaza has seen the opening of the Four Seasons hotel, the transformation of Harrah's Casino into Caesars, an overhaul for the nearby Audubon Aquarium and a face-lift for the adjacent Canal Street ferry terminal.
History of Spanish Plaza
Spanish Plaza wasn't always a picturesque spot by the riverfront at the foot of Canal Street.
The area was a parking lot until city leaders created a plan in the 1950s to reconnect the city with the waterfront.
After several delays, the project was completed in 1978 and included the fountain, the tower that now houses the Four Seasons and the surrounding plaza grounds.
As time passed, the plaza would see the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center building, Riverwalk Mall, Audubon Aquarium and the cruise ship terminal.
The many of buildings surrounding the plaza were erected by 1990 when the aquarium first opened.
"The Pelican Briefing," which stars Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, was filmed in Spanish Plaza in 1993 and is possibly the only film to feature this New Orleans landmark.
Times-Picayune archives and reporter Ian McNulty contributed to this report.