Lovely Quarter Gem Iris Will Shutter At The End of May

French Quarter gem Iris will shutter at the end of May, Brett Anderson reports. Their last night open will be May 24. Chef Ian Schoebelen and wife Laurie Casebonne have announced via email that they will focus on their Bywater hotspot Mariza, and hope to have more time to, understandably, enjoy life.

Iris has been in business for over eight years, a brief part of that spent in the original Riverbend space that is now home to Boucherie, and the rest in the gorgeous Quarter space at 321 N. Peters. The restaurant has always been highly regarded for impeccable service, innovative cocktails and food alike. Schnoebelen was named a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2007, and also garnered a coveted FOUR BEANS from Brett Anderson in 2009.

From Laurie Casebonne's email:

After a long, hard deliberation, Ian & I have decided to close Iris after 8 and a half years. We have been doing Ok but need a little more time to enjoy our lives, and we believe having one job and one restaurant, Mariza, will afford us that. Our last night will be May 24th. If you work in the restaurant business, please let me know if you have any openings, as we would love to find all of our amazingly loyal employees a good home. We hope you will come to enjoy another lunch or dinner at Iris during the next seven weeks. We want to make it a good final run. Thanks for your support.

· Iris Restaurant To Close At The End Of May [NOLA.com]
· All Shutter Reports [-ENOLA-]
Inside Iris [Photo:
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