New restaurant Minnie and John’s serves elevated New Orleans comfort food on Oak Street

If you grew up in New Orleans, chances are you’ve eaten creamed corn with sausage over rice.

“It’s a homey dish,” says Chad Sabatier, the chef-owner of Minnie and John’s. “I heard (Saints safety) Tyrann Mathieu talking about it on TV. Pure comfort food. Everybody has a can of creamed corn in their pantry and a link or two of andouille in the refrigerator, and we always have rice.”

Sabatier opened his modern Southern restaurant last month in the former Cowbell location on Oak Street. The vibe is casual and welcoming, with 40 seats on the expansive patio and two levels of inside dining. There’s also lots of wood accents and walls painted a bright, asparagus green. The chef offers a menu of New Orleans favorites that he creatively elevates.

“Homestyle food is a jumping-off point,” Sabatier says. “I’m creating something new, but still familiar.”

That corn, sausage and rice dish translates into a savory kala, crispy corn and andouille rice fritters, served with a house-made pepper ranch on the side for dipping. Crabby deviled eggs up the ante on the picnic staple with a generous helping of blue crab and a touch of cilantro. There’s a fried green tomato BLT, grilled pork chop with sweet potato chutney and a fried chicken sandwich slathered with an outstanding sweet and savory bacon jam.

Sabatier’s red beans are vegan, with the option of sausage on the side, while his ravioli are filled with collard greens and ricotta cheese and served with pot likker sauce. The Pasta Delores, named for Sabatier’s mom, is a cousin to crawfish Monica and is also available with shrimp or chicken.

For dessert, there’s a white chocolate bread pudding made from Sabatier’s late grandmother’s recipe. “She passed in 2015,” he says. “All the best parts of me come from her.”

When Sabatier was a kid, his grandmother picked him up after school, and his mom would pass by his grandmother’s house in the 8th Ward on her way home from work at the Hyatt Regency.

“She was always cooking,” Sabatier says. “Her hospitality came naturally.”

Minnie and John’s is the second tribute restaurant named for Sabatier’s grandparents. His mother and uncle, Dolores Fisher and Rochester Denson, opened the original homage, M&J Soul Food Restaurant, in New Orleans East in 2010. Sabatier took over the plate lunch spot when his uncle retired.

“Everything I do here is an enhancement of what we do at M&J’s. I go for the umami bomb,” he says.

The Oak Street community has been welcoming to Sabatier from the start, he says, but the word is still getting out.

“Cowbell did well here,” he says. “That’s what I’m hoping for.”

Sabatier grew up watching Emeril Lagasse on TV with his dad, which inspired him to start cooking himself.

The 30-year-old chef grew up in the business, but he wanted to raise his skills and points of reference. So he went to the New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute (NOCHI) and graduated in 2022. He staged at the Four Seasons and spent time in the kitchen at Commander’s Palace, Meril’s and Ruth’s Chris.

Mentors have played a big role in his professional development, Sabtier says. People like Carla Briggs, a NOCHI instructor and founder of Viola’s Heritage Breads, and Alfredo “Fito” Garcia Jr. of ChiChi’s Chicken, have guided him along the way.

But Sabatier’s goal was always to open his own place. His angel investors, his mother and sister, made that possible.

“I’ve had many helping hands,” Sabatier says. “I feel grateful.”