Tucked beneath sprawling live oaks in Algiers, Saint Claire feels like a hidden retreat just minutes from downtown New Orleans. The new restaurant and bar, opened in late June, is already drawing attention from locals and food lovers who describe it as part oasis, part culinary adventure.
The project is the work of longtime friends Melissa Martin — best known as the chef-owner of Mosquito Supper Club — and Cassi Dymond, who spent years dreaming of creating a place that blended good food with a sense of romance.
“When we walked this property, we knew right away it was the one,” Martin said. After six months of renovations, the pair transformed a historic building at the end of a Patterson Drive cul-de-sac into their dream restaurant, filling it with secondhand treasures and handmade pieces from local artisans.
A Space That Invites Escape
The design is intentionally warm and nostalgic. Guests can glimpse the kitchen as they move through the dining room — a deliberate choice inspired by the rustic kitchens of period dramas like Downton Abbey. “I wanted it to feel cozy, not like a sterile stainless-steel box,” Martin explained.
On the four-acre property, future plans include hosting picnics, weddings, and even adding a small working farm with chickens, sheep, and a vegetable garden. For now, though, the focus is firmly on food and drink.
What’s on the Table
The opening menu was built around the kind of dishes Martin and her team love to eat. Signature items include duck confit and rabbit rillettes, paired with seasonal sides that highlight local produce. There are also crossovers from Mosquito Supper Club’s menu, including richly flavored small plates and inventive bar bites.
The kitchen’s attention to detail shines in every dish — whether it’s pillowy gnocchi topped with lump crabmeat or smoked beets brightened by trout roe and crème fraîche. At each table, taper candles set the stage for leisurely meals and classic cocktails.
A Site with a Complex Past
Saint Claire’s story stretches back long before its current life as a restaurant. Originally part of the U.S. Quarantine Station built in 1931, the property once housed incoming ships and crews screened for disease. During the 1940s, it was repurposed as an internment camp, holding detainees from across Europe and Latin America during World War II. For a time, it became known as the “Camp of the Innocents” because it housed Jewish refugees and others opposed to the Nazi regime.
Later, the site served as a school, then as offices for the U.S. Border Patrol. Vacant for years, it was eventually sold into private ownership. The restaurant takes its name from Saint Claire Gardens, a development tied to the property’s early 20th-century history when the Ursuline Nuns sold portions of the land.
A New Chapter
Today, Saint Claire is rewriting that history with food, community, and hospitality. With its rustic elegance and deep ties to New Orleans’ past, the restaurant feels both timeless and new — a place where guests can savor a meal, linger over drinks, and briefly step outside the pace of the city.
Saint Claire is located at 1300 Richland Road in Algiers. Hours are Thursday 4–9 p.m., Friday 4–9:30 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–2 p.m. and 4–9:30 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m.–2 p.m. (closed Monday and Tuesday). For reservations, call (504) 766-9316.
