A monumental building in Uptown New Orleans that sat dormant for two decades has been brought back to life, and its first public event will be a suitably grand culinary happening to lift the lid.
The Josephine on Napoleon is the name for the new event venue now open in the former Our Lady of Lourdes Church, at 2400 Napoleon Ave., close to Freret Street.
The property was sold by the Archdiocese of New Orleans years ago and converted to its new use by a developer team led by David Fuselier and his sister Mimi Spiehler. The restaurant group Dickie Brennan & Co. partnered with them to operate the venue, handling its booking, catering and productions.
The church was dedicated in 1925 and stands as a striking example of Mission Revival architecture on a central Uptown corridor. The doors open to a massive hall under a soaring domed roof. As the Josephine on Napoleon, it is designed to host a broad range of events, from weddings to concerts and other performances.
“Here’s a 100-year-old church with new life again. I just get goosebumps when I walk in,” said Dickie Brennan. “I hope it will become a place where generations of people make memories now.”
Honoring a culinary legend
The venue has begun holding private events. On Nov. 12, the Josephine on Napoleon will host its first ticketed event, a dinner and fundraiser in honor of Jacques Pépin.
Credited with introducing French cuisine to generations of Americans through his cookbooks and TV shows, the chef and educator will turn 90 later this year. To mark the milestone, his nonprofit, the Jacques Pépin Foundation, is coordinating 90 birthday parties around the country, at some of the biggest names in the restaurant business. Earlier this year, Miss River restaurant from Alon Shaya in the Four Seasons hosted an edition too.
The event planned for the Josephine on Napoleon is inspired by a dinner Dickie Brennan co-hosted with chefs Susan Spicer and Frank Brigsten back in 1993, bringing Louisiana flavor to the Napa Valley wine auction.
For this edition, dubbed “Napa Meets NOLA,” Brennan and Spicer are collaborating with chef Michel Nischan of New York, a close friend of Pépin, to recreate that 1993 menu. Cure, the cocktail lounge nearby on Freret Street, will serve a cocktail hour with oysters and caviar in the courtyard before the seated four-course dinner in the venue.
“It was a magical dinner, so we thought, let’s do it again to celebrate Jacques being 90,” said Brennan.
Tickets are $250, and proceeds benefit the Jacques Pépin Foundation, which supports culinary education.
A stunning return
The debut of the Josephine on Napoleon comes after an extensive renovation…