The Appetite Repair Shop in New Orleans
Peter Vazquez might be the best chef in New Orleans you’ve never heard of. And he probably likes it that way. Once upon a time, he ran Marisol, a restaurant much loved and much ahead of its time. After Hurricane Katrina forced its closure, he served Sunday meals outside Bacchanal Wine Shop to those desperate for comfort and community in a newly-unknown landscape—a stint that eventually inspired a character arc on the New Orleans-based TV show, Treme. There were other pop-ups as well, other restaurant stints. For a while, he made terrines for other chefs and became known, in some circles, as Paté Pete. A kind of manic creativity was at the core of all these ventures—an anarchic approach to world cuisine, a loser-take-all attitude to fine dining stuffiness. All of which, eventually, led Vazquez to a small residential corner across the river in Algiers Point, to The Appetite Repair Shop. Here, chef Vazquez stands as the sole provider, a Sisyphean perfectionist destined to pace between gas ranges and hot plates. His menu changes every day and he only serves food in take-away containers for a few hours in the evening. But it’s some of the best food in the city. The menus are no-holds-barred affairs, posted on a furtive Facebook page a few hours before he opens. On any given evening you might find gumbo, spicy shrimp ziti, chicken fried steak, poblano braised beef, curries, and Middle Eastern platters, alongside watermelon gazpacho, tomato soup, and decadent, Michelin-worthy cakes and pies. With the words ‘Hell Bent’ tattooed across his knuckles, cursing as he navigates the dinner rush, it would be easy to dismiss Vazquez as a quirky, off-grid misanthrope, but food like this isn’t made in a vacuum. It takes time and experience and love for the craft and your community, and sometimes those things take unexpected forms, held in reverence in styrofoam containers.
Peter Vazquez might be the best chef in New Orleans you’ve never heard of. And he probably likes it that way. Once upon a time, he ran Marisol, a restaurant much loved and much ahead of its time. After Hurricane Katrina forced its closure, he served Sunday meals outside Bacchanal Wine Shop to those desperate for comfort and community in a newly-unknown landscape—a stint that eventually inspired a character arc on the New Orleans-based TV show, Treme.
There were other pop-ups as well, other restaurant stints. For a while, he made terrines for other chefs and became known, in some circles, as Paté Pete.
A kind of manic creativity was at the core of all these ventures—an anarchic approach to world cuisine, a loser-take-all attitude to fine dining stuffiness. All of which, eventually, led Vazquez to a small residential corner across the river in Algiers Point, to The Appetite Repair Shop.
Here, chef Vazquez stands as the sole provider, a Sisyphean perfectionist destined to pace between gas ranges and hot plates. His menu changes every day and he only serves food in take-away containers for a few hours in the evening. But it’s some of the best food in the city.
The menus are no-holds-barred affairs, posted on a furtive Facebook page a few hours before he opens. On any given evening you might find gumbo, spicy shrimp ziti, chicken fried steak, poblano braised beef, curries, and Middle Eastern platters, alongside watermelon gazpacho, tomato soup, and decadent, Michelin-worthy cakes and pies.
With the words ‘Hell Bent’ tattooed across his knuckles, cursing as he navigates the dinner rush, it would be easy to dismiss Vazquez as a quirky, off-grid misanthrope, but food like this isn’t made in a vacuum. It takes time and experience and love for the craft and your community, and sometimes those things take unexpected forms, held in reverence in styrofoam containers.
