NEW ORLEANS – Chef Sophina Uong and husband/partner William “Wildcat” Greenwell will open Mister Mao on Saturday, July 24 in the former Dick & Jenny’s space at 4501 Tchoupitoulas. Specializing in “inauthentic” global-inspired cuisine and cocktails, the 1,400-square-foot bar and restaurant will be a “tropical roadhouse with funky décor, bright colors and ample seating options,” according to its creators.
Uong, a West Coast native known for her victory on the Food Network’s Chopped TV series, said she’s been visiting New Orleans regularly for a decade before her move here to open her new venture.
“My former boss Michael Leblanc used to send me here to learn how to cook Creole food so I had a better understanding of what his restaurant was all about and what kind of foods he wanted,” she said. “He regaled me with colorful accounts of how special New Orleans was: Mardi Gras, Magazine Street, barbecue shrimp, Frenchman Street, crawfish toast, Reveillon, making groceries, the daiquiris! The list was endless and he was right: New Orleans is a magical city.”
These experiences led Uong to relocate here after a stint managing Andrew Zimmern’s Lucky Cricket restaurant in Minneapolis.
“The stars aligned and gave us the opportunity to make a move,” she said. “William and I hightailed it south, to get some seriously needed vitamin D, a purple drank from Lafittes, a frozen Irish coffee from Erin Rose, and a new perspective. Mister Mao came to be mostly because it was just time. Mister Mao is for me, it’s for William, and the name is for our crazy cat.”
Uong has worked in several esteemed San Francisco-area restaurants, including Waterbar, Revival Bar + Kitchen, Calavera and Absinthe Brasserie. At Mister Mao, she will serve everything from deviled almonds and plantain chaat (an aromatic Indian riff on bar nuts) to escargot Wellingtons (snails en croute with preserved lemon, garlic butter, horseradish and powdered greens) and Niman ranch pork shanks dry rubbed with ground congregation coffee beans and hickory smoked with chochoyotes.
Pastry chef Sarah Cotton, who has worked at Restaurant August and Shaya, will provide a dark chocolate tart with malty peanut brittle, coconut cream, black garlic and crispy rice and the lotus blossom cookies.
The restaurant will be open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Monday. For reservations or more information, visit www.mistermaonola.com.
