Merchant, new CBD cafe in Maritime building

“Coffee, crepes, grapes” is the tagline for Merchant, a new café in the ground floor of The Maritime building in the Central Business District. The café will open Friday, September 23 with a full grazing menu of crepes, salads, croque baton (think: French Panini), and crostini.

Also on offer: pastry, quiche, and chocolates made by Jack Petronella, a.k.a. Manhattan Jack, a new custom confectioner and baker in New Orleans. Petronella, a Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park grad, arrived in New Orleans about a year ago and is retailing his handiwork (chocolates are his specialty) at Merchant.

Merchant will serve beer and wine by the glass, quartino (quarter bottle), and bottle soon, but coffee may be the real star here. Co-owner Rosario Tortorice is in the coffee importing business and he’s bringing more than Italian coffee brand illy to the table at Merchant. Tortorice’s philosophy on coffee is something like an acolyte’s approach to an altar. There’s ritual involved in pulling the perfect espresso – down to the placement of the porcelain cup and saucer – and Tortorice is a big advocate of the sit-and-sip coffee culture.

“You can get a coffee to go, but we want people to have a cappuccino in a real glass; to sit and enjoy the social aspect of coffee. It’s not just about fuel,” Tortorice says.

If you like mochas, order Merchant’s not-so-secret off-menu specialty: a “deconstructed” mocha. But you have to ask for it by name, which is…your name. As in, ‘Hey, I’ll have an [insert your name].’ Got that?

Merchant
800 Common Street
New Orleans, LA 70112
(504) 571-9580
Hours: Daily, 7 a.m. – midnight