Skate-Inspired Restaurant Warbucks Opens This Weekend With Foie Burger

A casual new neighborhood spot arrives on Magazine Street this weekend, as Warbucks opens Saturday (November 10) with fanciful takes on comfort food.

Chef Todd Pulsinelli is heading up the kitchen here, having stepped over from John Besh flagship August to take it on. Pulsinelli is an occasional rapper on the side of his chef job, and the name, Warbucks, is his rap pseudonym.

Pulsinelli is a partner in the project, as is restaurant group BRG Hospitality. That group was formerly known as the Besh Restaurant Group, but has attempted to rebrand following allegations of sexual misconduct against chef John Besh, as well as chef Alon Shaya’s dramatic departure from the upper echelons of the group.

Randy P. Schmidt/Warbucks

Warbucks comes across as rather casual relative to other BRG restaurants — it’s being billed as a place that will “harness the spirit of 90s rap, skateboarding, and hip-hop culture”.

That doesn’t mean Warbucks will look like a skate park — the approach from local design firm Farouki Farouki takes a more subtle approach, with sharp murals from artist Thom Lessner, and a bar that draws its patterned design from classic Vans shoes.

Then on the food side, the offerings read as comfort food given an upscale spin — perhaps drawing on the sorts of faster fare that a skater or hip hop artist might eat. There’s a burger with red wine foie gras butter, oxtail-stuffed tater tots, a wagyu frank with crab fat coleslaw, and burrata short rib hand pies, to name a few. Desserts take the same path, with a Neapolitan-stuffed Twinkie, and praline crunch ice cream sandwich.

There’s draft wine and beer, and classic cocktails, including frozen options to round it all out. Meanwhile, here’s a look inside.

Randy P. Schmidt/Warbucks

Randy P. Schmidt/Warbucks

Randy P. Schmidt/Warbucks

Randy P. Schmidt/Warbucks

Randy P. Schmidt/Warbucks

Warbucks is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily (11 p.m. Friday and Saturday), beginning November 10.

• Warbucks [Official]
• John Besh’s Restaurant Group Will Open Warbucks Restaurant in New Orleans [ENOLA]