In Virgin-speak, the Richard Branson brand-driven lingo that pervades his company’s hotels, all rooms are chambers, coffee shops become the Funny Library and the restaurant — whether it’s in Dallas, Las Vegas or New Orleans — is the Commons Club.
But there’s nothing common about the Commons Club at the Virgin Hotels New Orleans, which opened in the Warehouse District on Aug. 18. The name refers to a town common or central community gathering place. Thanks to chef Alex Harrell’s deceptively simple menu of elevated seasonal cuisine and a fetching design by New Orleans-based Logan Killen Interiors, the new restaurant is a welcoming space.
“We’re seeing a steady increase in guests and people coming out for dining and music,” Harrell says.
Harrell oversees all dining and catering options at the 238-room hotel. That includes menus for recently opened rooftop pool and terrace spaces. The chef formerly ran his own restaurant, Angeline, and helmed the kitchens at Sylvian and, most recently, the Elysian Bar at Hotel Peter & Paul.
Working with sous chefs Bryan Buckler and Colin Pound, Harrell developed a menu of elevated seasonal Southern and Mediterranean-influenced dishes. There’s nothing cookie cutter about brunch offerings like whipped pimiento cheese on toast with bits of Benton’s cured ham from Tennessee and curls of sweet pickle. Gulf shrimp are served on a mound of stone-ground Alabama Bayou Cora grits with a smoky tomato and fennel broth. Crispy house-made boudin sits atop toothsome red grits in a pool of red eye gravy, with a sunny side up egg ready to burst open on top.
At dinner, a confit chicken leg is served with field peas, squash ragout and ricotta gnocchi. Harrell’s wagyu smash burger is topped with smoked Gouda, bacon fat aioli and the chef’s mustard on a potato bun.
“The only thing the Virgin folks said to me was, ‘Chef, the Commons Club is yours. Do whatever you want, but can you include a burger, pasta, soup and a salad on the menu?’” he says. “That was easy — I already had written those items on the menu — totally in my wheelhouse.”
The tiki barbecue dinner is Sunday, Nov. 14, at Mister Mao.
Harrell and his team are about to launch an expanded fall menu with four additional entrees and some tweaks to a few existing dishes, he says.
The restaurant is designed to offer guests a handful of mood-setting environments. There’s the Kitchen, which has a seven-seat chef’s table and open kitchen area and is decorated with vintage prints. There’s the intimate, breezy, whitewashed side porch area, with hanging ferns and floral prints across from the private dining alcove and its jaw-dropping pink Lindsey Adelman chandelier. The sexy Shag Room and bar area is a riot of colors and textures and art that spreads across the walls and up the stairs to the second floor.
When a friend who consults with Virgin mentioned the job to him earlier this year, saying it would be a good fit, Harrell figured there was nothing wrong with entertaining the conversation. “At first I wasn’t sure being connected with corporate life was for me, but the more I learned about the company and the autonomy they were giving the position, the better it sounded,” he says.
During the pandemic shutdown, Harrell, 47, had plenty of time for introspection. He came to the conclusion that he needed to challenge himself to become healthier and achieve a greater work-life balance to spend time with his two daughters.
“I wanted to push both my personal and professional life to the next level,” he says. “That’s how human growth happens, pushing outside of our comfort zone.”
Harrell accepted the job in March and started working in May. He knew he was biting off a lot, running dining in a signature hotel in the strangest of times.
“This can be pretty intense, a lot of moving parts,” he says. “But the company is super. They paid the entire staff for two weeks during (Hurricane) Ida. That’s not something you hear too often. I’m working with great people who are here to listen, always trying to solve problems as they come up and make everything the best it can be. It’s an exciting place to come to work every single day.”
Commons Club
Virgin Hotels New Orleans, 550 Baronne St., (833) 791-7700
Dinner daily, brunch Sat.-Sun.
There are a host of upcoming food events in November in New Orleans, from wine dinners to fundraisers.