Phillip Lopez’s Root and Square Root Closed Permanently on New Year’s Eve

Just as 2017 was coming to a close, two more restaurants snuck onto the list of closures for the year — Phillip Lopez’s experimental dining gems, Root and Square Root closed permanently on New Year’s Eve. Both restaurants were under the umbrella of Rebel Restaurant Group. Maximilian Ortiz, partner at Rebel Restaurant Group, confirmed both closures to Eater New Orleans this morning.

A public Instagram post from the restaurants’ bar manager, Waites Lasetar, reads, “It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Root will be closed after New Year's Eve. We are so proud of what we have created here, but fully aware that growth can only occur from death...”

Lopez has been widely lauded for his often-times experimental and creative cuisine. Root was known as the most daring restaurant in New Orleans, which set the bar high for the chef’s hotly anticipated Petit Lion in the Troubadour Hotel.

Petit Lion, which opened the year, received a lukewarm reception from critics. Todd Price on NOLA.COM said the hotel bistro “failed to roar,” while the Gambit’s Helen Freund said it was “still figuring itself out.”

In September, Lopez’s restaurant group closed the Warehouse District’s Part & Parcel. The restaurant was reopened under former employees Mike Mericle and Marie Guevara as Aglio.

No more information on the Root and Square Root closures was immediately available.

MORE READING

All Root Coverage [ENOLA]

Aglio Replaces Philip Lopez’s Part & Parcel Tomorrow [ENOLA]