Chef Donald Link’s restaurant will reopen September 23 as a first-floor Louisiana brasserie serving lunch, dinner and weekend jazz brunch.
Chemin à la Mer will reopen in a new first-floor location at Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans on September 23, 2026.
- Chemin à la Mer will move from the fifth floor to a new first-floor location at Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans on September 23, 2026.
- The reworked restaurant will operate as a Louisiana brasserie with French, Creole, Cajun and Gulf Coast influences, serving lunch and dinner with weekend jazz brunch to follow.
- Chef Donald Link will continue leading the culinary direction and will also oversee the food menu at the hotel’s Chandelier Bar.
- Four Seasons plans to announce a separate new restaurant concept for the vacated fifth-floor space later in 2026.
(NEWS) NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, United States, 2026-Sep-09 — /Travel PR News/ — Four Seasons Hotel & Residences New Orleans is reshaping one of its principal dining venues this fall, moving Chemin à la Mer from the hotel’s fifth floor to a new first-floor location and repositioning the restaurant as a Louisiana brasserie built around lunch, dinner and weekend jazz brunch.
The restaurant is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, according to details released by Four Seasons. The change broadens Chemin à la Mer’s role within the hotel, with the new location intended to serve not only overnight guests but also local diners and the downtown business community from midday into the evening.
The move also creates room for another change upstairs. Four Seasons said a new restaurant concept for the former fifth-floor Chemin à la Mer space will be announced later this year, extending a wider refresh of the hotel’s food-and-beverage programme.
A French brasserie interpreted through Louisiana
Chef Partner Donald Link is retaining the restaurant’s Louisiana identity while shifting its presentation toward the rhythm of a French brasserie. The new menu will combine Creole, Cajun and Gulf Coast influences with dishes associated with French dining, keeping established Chemin à la Mer favourites such as duck confit, pan-roasted drum and Link’s Creole gumbo while adding shrimp étouffée, crab and artichoke au gratin, moules frites and lapin au moutarde.
Desserts are set to include vanilla bean crème brûlée, chocolate mousse and tableside-style crêpes Suzette, while the bar will draw on both New Orleans and French drinking traditions. Planned cocktails include a Green Fairy-style absinthe flip, a Brandy Crusta and a reinterpretation of the French 75, alongside a wine list with a strong French component.
Lunch is a central part of the repositioning. Link has said the concept was influenced by the slower pace of Parisian lunches, describing the aim simply: “We wanted to bring that spirit to New Orleans.” Weekend service will add a jazz brunch, combining the restaurant format with one of the city’s most recognizable musical traditions.
Donald Link’s partnership expands within the hotel
Link will also take responsibility for the food menu at Chandelier Bar, extending his culinary role beyond Chemin à la Mer. The restaurant team will be led by Executive Restaurant Chef Brody LeBlanc, with Chad Ortis, an alumnus of Link Restaurant Group, serving as Restaurant Manager.
For travellers planning a New Orleans stay after the reopening, the restaurant will accept reservations for lunch and dinner through the Four Seasons dining page, with weekend jazz brunch expected to follow. Further information is also available through the Chemin à la Mer website.
