Justin and Mia Devillier Will Close CBD Bar and Restaurant Balise After Four Years

Four years after its opening, James Beard award-winning chef Justin Devillier and his business partner wife Mia will close the first restaurant they co-founded, CBD bistro Balise.

A press release sent Tuesday afternoon announced that Saturday, June 22 will be Balise’s last night, after the couple chose not to renew their lease at the Carondelet Street address. They will instead focus on their new French Quarter hotspot Justine, opened at the beginning of the year, and the nationally-acclaimed La Petite Grocery, according to the release.

Devillier rose to fame after accepting a job as head chef of La Petite in 2007, eventually appearing on Top-Chef: New Orleans in 2013. He and Mia entered the restaurant business in 2010 when they became majority owners of La Petite Grocery alongside its founder Joel Dondis, a local restaurateur who is also the co-founder of the abruptly-shuttered Sucre dessert company (not the co-founder who faced allegations of sexual harassment in a 2018 Nola.com report).

The couple opened cozy corner spot Balise a few years later in 2015, serving up small plates, craft cocktails, and an intimate vibe. In 2016, Devillier won the James Beard award for best chef in the South and began working on a new project not long after, opening the theatrical Justine in early 2019.

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• Compere Lapin and La Petite Grocery Are Two of the Best Restaurants in America [ENOLA]
• Justin Devillier’s Balise Opens Today In The CBD [ENOLA]
• New French Quarter Hotspot Justine Expanding to Lunch and Weekend Brunch [ENOLA]
• All of 2019’s New Orleans Restaurant Closures [ENOLA]