It’s often said that, in New Orleans’ French Quarter, the dead outnumber the living, that residual energy from the past continues to inhabit the neighborhood’s 300-year-old buildings and mysterious courtyards. The same could be said of past business ventures, whose traces continue to haunt.
New Orleans-founded eyewear brand Krewe — and its newly opened café and wine bar, Patula, tucked into the flagship’s historic courtyard on Royal Street — embraces this lingering influence.
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Once the home of Zachary Taylor, the 12th U.S. president, the two-story Krewe flagship opened in 2022 after being renovated to become a destination for fashion, entertainment and hospitality. A robust calendar of cultural events has kept the store and its courtyard jumping, but it lacked one central element of the Crescent City experience: dining.
Since opening last December, Patula has become an elevated yet welcoming hideaway for both locals and visitors to relax, recharge and enjoy thoughtfully crafted fare that honors the relationships chef Rob Tabone has forged with local vendors, farmers and aquaculturists.
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“Our cuisine expands around the cultural spread of New Orleans and Louisiana, writ large. We want our guests to feel like they’ve found respite in the French Quarter, that they can spread out and stay awhile,” Tabone said.
The restaurant evolved organically from when Tabone met Krewe founder Stirling Barrett at a supper club his catering company, Wood Duck, hosted in town. “At that point in time, I was outgrowing the space that I had access to and realizing the limitations of what a small popup catering company could be,” he recalled, adding that Barrett became a business mentor, offering advice on how to scale and engage a larger audience.
Inside Patula in New Orleans. Courtesy of Patula.
Passionate about hospitality, Barrett also had the keys to the 853-square-foot interior space, which opens onto a 1,285-square-foot courtyard, that was destined for a dining concept.
“There was a Creole restaurant in the space in the ’30s or ’50s called Marigold,” Tabone said. “Stirling found an old cookbook and some postcards. They would also work the season here and then go work at another spot they had in the Northeast for the summer. We adapt some of the recipes from that cookbook every once in a while.”
Likewise, Tabone recreated Patula — which is Latin for “spreading nature” and the scientific name for marigold — for a residency at Krewe’s Meatpacking District store in New York City in August. The pop-up served oysters, natural wine and Marigold’s curry clam recipe with cockles, bringing a taste of the Big Easy to the Big Apple for three weeks.
While modern — Tabone has a sharp eye for presentation — Patula’s menu is a representation of the city’s diverse lineage, a confluence of Cajun and Southern flavors blend with French and Spanish cuisine. Not just a seasonal menu based in freshness, dishes can change on a whim. One day the flavor is tzatziki, the next could be peanut chili crunch. “Though nine times out of 10, we’re cooking whatever it is that you would want to eat in a courtyard in New Orleans,” he said.
A dish at Patula. Courtesy of Patula
Back in the Vieux Carre, as Krewe readies its fall collection and Icelandic campaign, Tabone is planning more supper club nights. The intimate gatherings of 18 to 22 guests around an exclusive menu were recently revived with a more refined format. “It’s a little bit more polished. More of a finished draft of those early supper club nights. It’s nice to feel that come full circle this summer, and to be able to get back to that intimate style dining that got this whole thing started,” he said.
Whether it’s a pair of glasses or a small plate, Tabone said guests are experiencing something made with a sense of craft and intention. It’s a vibe he sees gaining momentum in the restaurant world — driven by a growing desire for experiences that feel authentic rather than theatrical.
A dish at Patula. Courtesy of Patula
“Whenever I talk to other chefs about how we write menus for Patula, I say we’re writing a menu that works for the space that we’re in. We’re writing a menu that works for the people who are coming in. It’s not necessarily about me or the brand or any sort of subjective, creative vision. It’s about taking care of the people and honoring the space and all the people who grow what we get to serve.”