Chef Melissa Martin, the award-winning chef, cookbook author, and restaurant owner, is adding a new restaurant to her portfolio. Saint Claire opened at 1300 Richland Road in Algiers in mid-June.
Martin, who was born and raised in Chauvin, Louisiana, is most well-known for Mosquito Supper Club, the restaurant she established in a remodeled Uptown house that serves food family-style twice an evening. Martin created that restaurant, which offers a tasting menu, to bring people together and share stories about her Cajun culture. In the same vein, Martin’s two cookbooks, Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing Bayou and the recently released Bayou: Feasting Through the Seasons of a Cajun Life, take the reader on a journey through bayou cuisine from Martin’s unique, firsthand perspective.
Martin and business partner Cassi Dymond chose a unique location for Saint Claire, a renovated house surrounded by nearly four acres in the middle of eighteen live oaks in a cozy, secluded part of Algiers. This setting adds a touch of mystery and charm to the dining experience.
“More than anything we felt like we were buying a park,” Martin says. “In the early days we had our dogs here all the time running around. We had been looking for a property in the country over the years with the consideration that we might open a business eventually. When we saw this property, it was pretty clear that we were going to open a restaurant here.”
Saint Claire’s menu differs from the Mosquito Supper Club’s tasting menu-style and instead opts for an à la carte approach, offering eclectic yet refined dishes that are unique for a New Orleans restaurant.
Martin explains, “We use the best possible ingredients we can get our hands on. We’re at the farmer’s market twice a week and source as much as we can locally. The menu is made up of food that we want to eat.”
Menu highlights include the French Omelette with crab, crème fraiche, and trout roe, a dish inspired by Martin’s love for French cuisine and her Cajun roots. This dish, along with others like BBQ Shrimp with rye ciabatta; Jumbo Lump Crab Cake with radish and cultured butter; Citrus Poached Shrimp with fennel, nectarine, basil, and mint; and Tuna Paillard with pickled peach, shishito peppers, and tarragon, showcases the unique blend of influences in Martin’s cooking. Some standouts on the menu include dishes such as Lamb Meatballs with Parmesan and grits; Lamb Bolognese with pappardelle and Parmesan; Rabbit Rillettes with pickles, fig confiture, and sourdough; and Duck and Andouille Gumbo with Carolina Gold rice.
A crowd favorite has been the potato Gnocchi topped with jumbo lump crab, lemon beurre, and chives. Martin likens it to comfort food, similar to a baked potato.
Along with rabbit and duck, it’s unusual to see lamb on a traditional New Orleans menu, and Martin explains this is by design—lamb is plentiful at the farmer’s market where she sources Saint Claire’s ingredients, and it’s something she enjoys eating.
“Lamb is easy for us to get from one farmer and it’s a really light meat for the summer,” Martin says. “I think that lamb, duck, and rabbit are going to be a mainstay on our menu because they’re not typical of other menus. When there’s a restaurant where I can get lamb, duck, or rabbit I get really excited. We’ve been open for two and half months and we haven’t served chicken or beef yet, but no one has asked for it. We want to set the standard of offering things we want to eat that aren’t typical for a New Orleans menu.”
Saint Claire is open for dinner on Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The restaurant serves brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Reservations for brunch or dinner can be made through Tock.
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