European Tapas Restaurant Preparing to Open in the Northshore

Noir Bistrot will serve small plate dishes from France, Spain, and Italy.

Brett Llenos Smith
By Brett Llenos Smith Add a Comment
Photo: Official

Set in a pink colonial-style building at 2032 Woodrow St. in Mandeville, Noir Bistrot is a European-influence tapas restaurant preparing to open its doors in mid-February. According to the official website, Noir Bistrot will serve small plate dishes from France, Spain, and Italy. Owner and retiring police officer Elizabeth Blange recently told What Now New Orleans that the restaurant concept was inspired by the building, which she had built from the ground up.

“I just kept seeing all these ideas, to the point Pinterest threw up on my building!” she said with a laugh. “(The look of the building) kind of inspired what theme I was going for with the food.”

With Blange running the kitchen, the menu will rotate its menu biweekly. There will be unique continental dishes made with seasonal ingredients, but there will also be some familiar comfort foods. Blange said there’s a feminine, “date night” feel to her concept and she wants some dishes on the menu to appeal to men.

“My line of thinking is that men go where us women tell them to go,” she said. “So, I will offer different kinds of burgers, just so the guy who couldn’t go get a smash burger isn’t so disappointed he had to come to my pink building with his girlfriend or wife.”

Noir Bistrot will also feature a carefully curated selection of wines, including 15 red and 15 white wines, along with sparkling wine. There will also be craft beer in bottles and craft cocktails.

Inside, the restaurant space will be small and intimate, ideal for parties of four or fewer, with children welcome until 8 p.m. There’s also seating in an outdoor courtyard that is pet-friendly. Noir Bistrot is planning a regular event schedule, which is currently focused on fitness pop-ups and monthly wine tastings. Blange said she’s hoping Noir Bistrot will cultivate communal vibes on the Northshore that resemble those in New Orleans.

“Because the Northshore doesn’t exactly have what New Orleans has to offer,” she said. “Social events around here: You go out, have a drink, go home, and you’re in bed by seven.”

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Brett Llenos Smith is a freelance writer with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and more than a decade of experience writing about restaurants, farms and food production. As someone with a multi-ethnic background, he has a passion for highlighting folks from underrepresented communities.
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