The Best New Restaurants in New Orleans | Eater New Orleans

"When the Ace Hotel closed and made way for the Barnett Hotel, it was hard not to wonder about the fate of the hotel’s head-turning 5,000-square-foot art deco dining room that had housed the smart and sophisticated Italian gem Josephine Estelle. Fortunately, the 1940s palm frond murals (salvaged from the New Orleans Opera House) and green velvet and leather banquets that line up beneath soaring ceilings are in good hands. The lauded team behind beloved eateries Costera and Osteria Lupo has opened Brutto Italiano with a menu of modern Italian cuisine from chef Bryan Burns. Pasta is once again hitting the tables with options like spaghetti alla chitarra studded with littleneck clams and guanciale, but don’t skip out on starters like burrata cheese with pistachios and serrano chiles. Finish things up with the Sicilian cannoli with orange-marsala caramel." - Clair Lorell