Tina Bentley and Michelle Carpenter
Chef Michelle Carpenter pays homage to her Cajun heritage with a new restaurant coming soon to 1111 N. Beckley, the former site of Jonathon’s.
Carpenter, who has owned and operated Zen Sushi in the Bishop Arts District for about 15 years, is from Louisiana and has a Japanese mother and a Cajun father.
This new restaurant is named after Carpenter’s “mammaw,” Beatrice.
Here’s what a media release says about the menu for Beatrice:
Carpenter and Jenkins conceptualized a menu that includes duck and house-made andouille gumbo made with smoked aromatics, her Mammaw’s fried chicken with pepper jelly along with a vegan interpretation of the late, great Leah Chase’s Green Gumbo made with an assortment of leafy greens in an earthy base. Beatrice service will include a full bar and mixology program along with fun seafood boils on the patio, capturing the spirit of communal eating.
The executive chef will be Terance Jenkins, who started his career making gumbo at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans and has worked at Screen Door, Cedars Social and Amberjacks in Dallas.
Tina Bentley will be general manager.
The restaurant will also carry a line of house-made pantry items — pickles, jams and rubs — branded as Aunt Bea’s Pantry Staples.
From the media release:
Carpenter has partnered with a local farmer for a selection of ingredients. The kitchen staff’s menu development includes imagining new potential for ingredients most kitchens have traditionally undervalued. Experience heirloom-recipes, scratch-made Cajun food in a space where everyone knows they belong.
