Many people come to, or live in, New Orleans to immerse themselves in the city’s rich culture, and many restaurants are a part of that cultural fabric. But where do New Orleanians go when they need to escape from the daily grind that is the Crescent City?
Restauranteur John Rowland specializes in developing escapist restaurant concepts that take you out of New Orleans and away from your day-to-day drudgery. He’s done it with the nautical-themed Pigeon and Whale on Freret Street, and he’s set to repeat the feat right across the street at with The Husky, a restaurant inspired by northern ski lodges. The former Acropolis on Freret is currently being renovated and an opening date is set for this fall.
While many restaurants start with a cuisine or culinary concept, Rowland takes the opposite approach. He begins with a design concept and meticulously builds every element of the restaurant from there. It’s an approach used to create what he calls “transformative dining.”
“The design is meant to remove your attachment to wherever you are, which, I think, brings stress and anxiety related to your work, personal life, or whatever,” he recently told What Now New Orleans. “The design allows you to leave it all behind and makes you feel like you’re somewhere else besides New Orleans. Like with, Pigeon and Whale, you feel like you’re on a yacht or something along those lines. When they walk in, people can leave their stress behind and enjoy an experience with the people around them.”
Feeding into the overall experience, the food menu will offer different cuts of beef — as well as pork and chicken. Rowland said there will also be seafood and vegan options in an effort to welcome many different kinds of guests to The Husky.
“We want to have something for people coming with a group of five or six who are looking for a fish dish,” he said. “We want to make sure we have something for people who don’t eat make. We’ll have those options on the menu as well.”
At the bar, a large selection of red wines is meant to complement the various meat dishes that will be available. Rowland said he has much more space at The Husky compared to Pigeon and Whale, allowing him to offer a much larger wine list. In keeping with the northern theme, the bar menu will also place a heavy emphasis on whiskey, including whiskey pours and whiskey cocktails.
“We’re going to try to establish ourselves as the go-to place in New Orleans for whiskey,” Rowland said. “That takes time because of allocations and you sometimes gotta play games to get an opportunity to buy certain whiskies.”
He added that he wants The Husky to be a neighborhood restaurant. That means having a casual atmosphere and building a clientele of regulars from the surrounding neighborhood. As a resident of the area, Rowland said he’s hoping to fill a void and give other residents an option they seem to be wanting.
“I desire more for this neighborhood, and I think there’s a lot of neighborhood people that feel the same way,” he said. “Also, the locals are always going to be your customer base. That’s how your business is going to survive because, as we all know, everything slows down in the summer. But your locals can carry you through.”
