Live-fire cooking is common in restaurants throughout South America; not so much in the US. But that’s slowly starting to change with the increasing numbers of South American restaurant concepts, and one of the newest will be Origen Bistro at 3600 Saint Claude in the Bywater, which used to be the Mexican restaurant Luna Libre.
Slated to open in March, Origen is a Venezuelan-style restaurant that will feature two different concepts. From 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., it will serve breakfast and brunch items. Dinner service will feature three prix fixe meals at different price points that will all feature carne en vara, or large cuts of meat that are slow-roasted on a spit. Each meal will include a bottle of wine or pitcher of house made sangria. International chef Julio Machado will be overseeing the entire menu which will feature arepas and other classic Venezuelan dishes, made with a New Orleans influence.
Ownership partner Cesar Gallo said his team deliberately chose the Bywater because it spoke to their intimate approach to dining. “There’s a community around that location and very different, for example, from the French Quarter, or something like that,” he said. “We didn’t want to be in a touristy area. We want to be a neighborhood restaurant.”
