Lights! Camera! Action! The Paramount will officially open August 3rd.
This is is the new restaurant at 265 South Front in the space Bluff City Law occupied as the law firm in the TV series.
“I’m really excited about it,” says chef/owner Dirk Meitzler. “It’s going to grow in character as we move along. I always build onto what we’re starting with. A little more ambient character. It’s a sharp place. And I want to make sure everyone is comfortable in here. Not stuffy.”
Tony Gooch, a finish carpenter, built the walls and the vestibule, among other things. All the restaurant’s mahogany veneer, including the columns, the bar front and back, came from the same tree.
Graham Reese, the design architect, came up with the color scheme, which is “carmine” red, “caviar” black, and “black fox” — the brown on the walls. The brown on the front of the building is “urbane bronze.”
They left the natural brick. No painted brick at The Paramount.
Meitzler describes the food as “Highway 61 food.” The working menu includes a range of small plates, including crab beignets and fried green tomatoes. Soups include crawfish bisque and the entrees include shrimp and grits with NOLA sauce.
The Paramount is easy to find; just look up and you’ll see the old Paramount logo from when the building once housed Paramount Pictures’ distribution office.
