Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published November 10, 2008 Best New Restaurant Of 2006, Formerly In Carrollton Iris Opens In New French Quarter Location After closing for a couple of months to make the drastic move, Ian Schnoebelin and Laurie Casebonne have reopened their superb French-tinged bistro, Iris. The restaurant had been in a cramped cottage just off Carrollton Avenue, near the streetcar barn. As fine as the food was, the restaurant's small rooms--not much changed from when the structure was someone's home--necessitated tables that were too small for comfortable service. The new restaurant is not enormously bigger, with but sixteen tables. But it and the bar (something the old place didn't really have) were designed for food service, and work pretty well. I know this, because no fewer than six restaurants have come and gone there over the years. (Billy Leone's, the Bull's Corner, Liborio, Chef Andrea's Anacapri, and two iterations of Gamay, to name all I can remember.) The space is the hotel restaurant of the Bienville House Hotel. Its advantages are a central location, large nearby parking lots, and lots of windows. Its disadvantages are the location, which many locals perceive (wrongly, I'd say) as touristy, and a small kitchen. However, Iris's cooking was so fine at its original restaurant that many locals will be persuaded to filter down there. And there's the possibility that the word could break out among tourists that this is another Stella or Bayona. I hope so. Iris will open for lunch Thursday through Saturday, and dinner Mondays plus Wednesdays though Saturday. (Closed on Tuesday, in other words.) They also say they plan to add a bar menu from 5 till 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, although that's not up yet. Iris. French Quarter: 321 North Peters. 504-299-3944. Contemporary French and American. © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com