Old Favorite Mimi's In River Ridge Closes

Long-lived Jefferson Parish fine dining restaurant, Mimi's, has closed, at least for now. Owners David Witmore and An Vu-Witmore have announced the sale of the River Ridge establishment that they had operated since 2001. Mimi's originally opened over thirty years ago.

Mimi's gained some notoriety in 2010 when the Whitmores partnered with Pete Vazquez, formerly of Marisol, to revamp the menu. With Vazquez as chef de cuisine, the restaurant developed a radically eclectic menu unlike any other in New Orleans. As The Gambit's Ian McNulty writes,

The long-established restaurant underwent a seismic shift in the past 10 months, changing from a reliable neighborhood eatery for Creole-Italian fare (think veal Marsala, seafood pasta, crawfish cheesecake) to a destination for intriguing, ambitious, genre-defying cuisine (think raw oysters with pork belly and fish sauce, Piedmontese steak, blue marlin a la Nicoise).

According to McNulty, the Whitmores had planned to continue operating the restaurant, but they received an offer that was too good to pass up.

Vazquez stated that he and the Whitmores will take some time off before diving into their next venture. But he will be working with them again as they scout locations for their new venture, possibly along the up-and-coming restaurant row on Freret Street.

No word yet on the new owners' plans for Mimi's. [The Gambit]

·The Closing of Mimi's of River Ridge. [The Gambit]
·Mimi's Restaurant, River Ridge [Facebook]

[Photo: Mimi's / Facebook]