Silver Jubilee
Chef John Besh and business partner Octavio Mantilla reflect on the inception of their flagship restaurant and the future of BRG Hospitality.
There are events in our lives that often seem predestined, such as: romance blooming between two people escaping a rainstorm under the same awning, bumping into a high school friend at the airport who just happens to be looking to hire someone with your skills, or becoming business partners with an old co-worker met during a brief interim between jobs.
"I was waiting for my next job to begin when I crossed paths with Octavio," Chef John Besh recalled. "I absolutely loved working with him." While working for Chef Horst Pfeifer at his riverfront restaurant Bella Luna in the late '90s—now an event venue called Marché—Octavio Mantilla met Besh and they hit it off.
"John was coming back from his internship in Germany and France, and he came and worked with us for a few months. We became friends," Mantilla explained. Life went on and the two went their separate ways.
Besh began cooking at the Windsor Court, and Mantilla was tapped to manage Food & Beverage for Harrah's Entertainment when fate took a hand once again. After several years spent traveling from Las Vegas to Atlantic City, opening restaurants in Harrah's casinos, Mantilla was looking to stay closer to home. "[My boss] said, 'I have something perfect for you. I have this young chef named John Besh and we're going to open a steakhouse,' and I said, 'Perfect. I know John very well,'" Mantilla laughed.In 2001, a few years prior to opening the steakhouse, Besh was selected by local civic leader and businessman August "Duke" Robin to head the kitchen at his eponymous Warehouse District restaurant.
Located on the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Gravier streets, the building that houses Restaurant August started life as a warehouse built in the mid-1800s, storing goods such as tobacco from St. James Parish coming downriver and coffee shipped in from the Caribbean and South America.
Over the years, the historic building also played host to a garment factory and tailoring shop, as well as the Reily Electric Co.—an electrical, automation, and control products distributor—and only one branch of the extended Reily family empire also responsible for Luzianne Coffee Co.
"[August 'Duke' Robin] was so generous, just one of the most amazing people, who gave me this amazing opportunity, [but] he realized not long after getting into the business that he didn't want to be in the restaurant business," Besh laughed. According to NOLA.com, Duke absolutely loved the building but had never really intended to get into the restaurant business.
In 2005, Besh and Mantilla partnered to purchase Restaurant August from Duke, marking the beginning of BRG Hospitality Group and their successful, longstanding business relationship. "[Duke] really gave me my start. I couldn't have been more fortunate. And then to have a partner like Octavio. He was the maître d', I was the cook, and the rest is history. It was magical in those days," Besh reminisced.
"He and I complimented each other—me in the front of the house and him in the kitchen," Mantilla said. "We made a perfect pair."
Though Hurricane Katrina barrelled through the city not long after purchasing their flagship restaurant—one that quickly went from offering elaborate tasting menus to serving "red beans and rice, and fried rabbit"—it seemed as if it was only a hiccup in the duo's burgeoning hospitality company.
In 2006, Besh won the James Beard award for Best Chef South/Southeast. Just a year later, they opened Luke, a Franco-German-inspired brasserie on St. Charles Avenue in the Central Business District. "There's a story about why we do what we do, and why we created the restaurants," Besh explained. "The first date I went on with my wife was at Kolb's Restaurant, a couple blocks down from Luke, and I loved that German/Creole, tavernish-style of dining. [Also] Jennifer and I lived in Germany, and, in the summer, we would drive through the Alps and go to Italy, and we would say, 'On Sundays, we're Italian,'" Besh laughed. "That's why we created Domenica."
Recently BRG Hospitality launched several new destinations in what seemed like rapid succession. In fall of last year, Delacroix opened on the riverfront, offering a menu that hearkens back to a time when Besh spent a lot of time out on the water. "I used to spend time out on shrimp boats or going out with friends and cooking on the back of the boat dishes [such as] turtle sauce piquante with a fried piece of catfish on top. There's nothing pretty about it, but it's one of the best bites I've ever had in my life," Besh said.
In February of this year, the group also opened Feliciana and Paradise, a French bistro and cocktail bar on the former site of the historic Star Theater across the lake in Covington. A sort of homage to area writer Walter Percy, Feliciana and Paradise refer to fictional locations in his novels. "I've been a big fan of Walter Percy all of my adult life. I cooked for him when I was at La Provence, [and] I also got to know Mary 'Bunt' Percy, his wife, who was one of my best clients," Besh said.
Through trials and tribulations, hurricanes, oil spills, and a pandemic, Restaurant August has remained steadfast, a bulwark of the BRG Hospitality Group and one of the darlings of fine dining options available in New Orleans. The kitchen at Restaurant August is currently helmed by Executive Chef Corey Thomas, who is lending his own culinary genius to a dizzying 10-course tasting menu. "The menu changes every week; it is always progressive. [The restaurant has] gone through many years of change, and it's doing amazing now. I usually tell people my favorite restaurant is the one that's not giving me a hard time this week," Mantilla laughed. "But to be honest, August does have a tiny bit more significance. It was the first we've owned."
"I'm extremely humbled that we're still here," Besh said. "Not just surviving but thriving and moving forward and continuing to make a difference."
