What makes a diner return to a given restaurant? Maybe there’s a dish they love, or the staff knows them by name. Maybe it’s proximity to home or work, or the killer vibe, or the expectation of bumping into friends or acquaintances. Maybe it’s a great place for a date.
Here’s a prediction on The Colonel’s Club. If all goes well, diners will return for all those reasons, but what may also hook them is simply the need for a second look. A Gilded Age travel design scheme created by noted local firm Tiek Byday, contemporary artworks curated by Ann Connelly Fine Art and quirky Baton Rouge memorabilia from the family of the titular “Colonel” all work together to tell an old-meets-new story layered with visual detail. Once won’t be enough to spot all the Easter eggs.
The brainchild of Baton Rouge restaurateur Jordan Piazza, The Colonel’s Club opens soon in the location most recently occupied by Kalurah Street Grill. It’s been in the works since spring 2023. Passersby watched expectantly in May as a midcentury-style marquee went up on the Perkins Road Overpass, its downward arrow pointing to something interesting unfolding below.
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“It’s finally come to fruition,” says Piazza, whose company Rebirth Brands invested more than $2 million in the new concept. “I’m excited we’re bringing back something that older generations experienced, and younger generations might have heard of. There’s just a lot of excitement about it, and even though I’m biased, I don’t think there’s anything like this in Baton Rouge.”
Piazza worked with Chris Ferrari of Ferrari Development to create the initial design. The reimagining is an ode to the original Colonel’s Club, a speakeasy and live music venue that operated in the space in the 1960s. The private club was conceived by property owner Jesse Lee Sheppard, aka “the Colonel,” a local pilot and entrepreneur who also used the building as an aircraft hangar and workshop. Operating upstairs at night, it often featured regional musicians. Patrons reportedly presented a pass to enter. At other points in the building’s history, it housed a refrigeration trade school and an East Baton Rouge Parish voting precinct.
In the ’90s, an unrelated concept opened in the space serving Creole and American cuisine called The Old Colonel’s Club. Later, the restaurant and music venue Chelsea’s Cafe was also housed there.
Sheppard’s descendants, who still own the property, embraced Piazza’s interest in fashioning a concept fueled by the Colonel’s storied history. They provided numerous photographs and memorabilia from his life and travels. In fact, Sheppard’s journeys, taken with his wife, Maud, and a pet Doberman who often flew with him, inspired both the design and menu.
“The Colonel traveled the world, and what you see is an ode to that sense of adventure,” says Julie Perrault, Rebirth Brands’ marketing director.
The menu is built around what Perrault describes as “American favorites with a worldly twist,” demonstrated through appetizers like Royal Red Shrimp Cocktail, Thai Lettuce Wraps, Pimento Deviled Eggs, Ahi Tuna Tar-tar, and Hummus & Halloumi. Entrees check both simple and elevated boxes with dishes like Lobster Gnocchi, Moroccan Braised Lamb shank, Crispy Pork Katsu, Short Rib Bolognese, and Steak & Frites. There are comfort eats like The Colonel’s Club Sandwich, with fried shrimp, bacon and avocado, and a Smash Burger with fries. A number of healthy items are on the menu, too, including several salads, grilled fish and veggie-centric starters. The restaurant will also serve brunch on Sundays.
“We wanted you to able to eat here three times a week and not get tired of it,” Perrault says. “The idea was to have a beautifully designed neighborhood restaurant, like the ones you see in New York, with a friendly, versatile menu.”
Local restaurant consultant Jonathan Breaux, who formerly oversaw the food and beverage program for Solera and Bin 77, worked with Piazza’s team over about nine months to design a menu with dishes that would feel accessible, but also exciting. David Dickensauge, whose past stints include Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine, is The Colonel’s Club’s head chef.
The concept’s eye-popping design greets diners from the get-go. The entrance is bedecked in detailed red oak millwork, a continuing element throughout the space. The landing pops with soft-hued hexagonal floor tiles and period signage at the host stand painted by muralist Marc Fresh, who also painted the frosted glass “Exit” sconces over the door transoms. It’s one of many small details that inform the larger scheme.
From the entrance, the establishment branches into two very different quarters designed to complement one another. To the left is the Colonel’s Lounge, a moody parlor with handsome seating arrangements and nooks, a fireplace, a piano and a bar. To the right is the restaurant itself, lighter in tone with distinct sections that offer variations on the same theme.
In the men’s club-like lounge, tufted sofas and fringed curved back chairs are situated to offer both privacy and a sense of community. Order a drink while you wait for a table. Nosh on small plates; there’s a dedicated menu here. Or, order dessert and Lavazza coffee drinks prepared in an imported espresso maker.
“You can start your night here, or you can end your night here. Or this could be your night,” Perrault says.
The bar’s cocktail program includes a heavy emphasis on 1960s trends, including whiskey cocktails and tiki drinks. The wine list will feature about 20 to 30 wines by the glass, encouraging guests to sample something new, Piazza says.
If masculine energy defines the lounge, the restaurant is deliberately more feminine, outfitted in dusty pinks and cornflower blues, marble top tables, floral prints, velvet drapes, painted flooring and more of the impressive red oak millwork.
Cindy Tiek of Tiek Byday says that one of the most important goals was to scale down a space that originally felt vast and unwieldy. She and her business partner and daughter, Bridget, did so by creating distinct sections that evoke the feeling of belle epoque luxury travel. The main dining area and bar, accented by whimsical silk light fixtures, transitions through an archway into smart banquettes. That leads to a back dining space where wicker chairs and a handcrafted, oyster blue lattice ceiling lighten the tone. An elegant private dining room in the rear of the restaurant, with details like mosaic tile patterned wallpaper, is evocative of a Gilded Age high-end train car.
“Each space was influenced by a travel theme, as in turn-of-the-century travel where you’re on a beautiful train, or plane or cruise ship,” Bridget says.
Tiek Byday tapped Ann Connelly Fine Art to find pieces that supported the design’s intention and showcased the Gulf South’s deep bench of creatives. A geometric collage in muted hues by noted Baton Rouge artist and poet Jacqueline Dee Parker adds lightness to the lounge. It’s hung by chains near the front. On either side of the fireplace is a pair of black-and-white abstracts by Houston artist Leroy Dewees resembling calligraphy, signaling a time when beautiful penmanship was the norm, says the gallery’s director Chelsea Norris. Numerous other works hang throughout the lounge and restaurant including pieces by local artists Demond Matsuo and Megan Buccere, among others.
Frequent visitors to the Underpass will also be interested to know that Piazza has taken a proactive approach to the area’s chronic parking challenges, working with the local company, Grounds Pro, to improve the restaurant’s entrance. It has been relandscaped and repaved, a big improvement from the former gravel lot with its confusing arrangement of parking spaces.
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In cleaning up the entrance, Piazza also took it upon himself to complete a portion of the long-awaited landscape design plan that was conceived and funded by some of the area’s merchants, including BLDG 5 and Varsity Sports. The area’s overall landscape and parking plan is scheduled to be completed by the city at some point. The Colonel’s Club will also offer valet parking.
The Colonel’s Club is at 2857 Perkins Road and will be opening soon. Follow the restaurant on Instagram for updates at @the.colonels.club.