New John Besh restaurant slated for Hyatt Regency New Orleans Hotel

Artist's rendering of Vitascope Hall at the soon-to-re-open Hyatt Regency New Orleans.

Second only to the food buzz around Freret Street’s new restaurant row these days is the buzz about marquee chefs opening restaurants in New Orleans hotels. The latest: the Times-Picayune’s Brett Anderson broke the news that James Beard award-winning chef John Besh and former Galatoire’s executive chef Brian Landry will partner up on Borgne, a seafood-centric restaurant slated to open next year in the newly overhauled Hyatt Regency New Orleans. The menu at Borgne will center on coastal Louisiana seafood, but according to Anderson, the chefs plan to incorporate some of the culinary influences of the Spanish Islenos — Canary Island immigrants who settled outside of New Orleans in the 1700s.

The Hyatt, which has been closed since Katrina and underwent a $275 million redesign and renovation, will reopen on October 19. The hotel also announced it will open several other restaurants in the property, including the 360-seat 8 Block Kitchen & Bar, a place-to-watch-the-game restaurant with 25 flat-screen TVs called Vitascope Hall (pictured), and a barbecue spot called the Whole Hog Café.