Some 60,000 guests make the trek to The Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville each year, largely for two reasons: its significance as a pre-Civil War site, and to experience its spooky vibe.
The Myrtles owner wants to introduce a third reason, 225 reports—food. Next month, The Myrtles plans to launch its an open-hearth, farm-to-table eatery.
Restaurant 1796, named for the year The Myrtles is thought to have been built, is the brainchild of owner Morgan Moss, who took over leadership of the attraction four years ago from his parents, John and Teeta Moss.
The Restaurant 1796 concept was inspired by other open-hearth fine dining establishments across the country, including King + Duke in Atlanta, Fore Street in Portland, Maine, and El Che Bar in Chicago. Moss and Lewis visited several such restaurants to learn as much as they could about open-hearth cooking’s specific upsides and challenges.
“We felt like open-hearth cooking was exactly what we needed to be doing. It complements our historical roots,” Moss says. “I don’t think you can get more primal than cooking over a wood fire, but it also feels modern and innovative because there’s just not a lot of it going on in Louisiana.”
