From The Lens g r e at w o r k s pac e s
Well-Crafted The Starlight bar and lounge in the French Quarter strives to be your local living room away from home by Melanie Warner Spencer photos by Sara Essex Bradley
It’s easy to imagine the building at 817 St. Louis
St. in the French Quarter in its earliest incarnation as a residence to the Bacas family when it was built in the late 1770s. The Bacases were a family of woodworkers known for their work on the choir loft at St. Louis Cathedral. Their craft is evidenced by the sturdy construction, pristine fireplace mantels, moulding, winding stair railing and — on the second floor — narrow oak-plank flooring with inlay detailing around the perimeter. The building remained a private home until the ‘50s and has since housed several bars, a jazz club and a restaurant. Most notably the location housed Petunias restaurant, popular from its opening in the 1970s until Hurricane Katrina, after which it never managed to get back up and running. Since January 2018, the space has been home to The Starlight, a cozy craft cocktail bar featuring early and late evening live music, Friday-night dance parties, second-floor event space and, as of the writing of this piece, a kitchen specializing in Venezuelan food. Owner Linda Novak likes to think of it as a French Quarter living room for both residents and visitors. “I wanted it to evoke an [earlier] era, with an authentic, older, French Quarter feel,” says Novak, one of the former owners of Pal’s in Mid-City. She says she tackled the approximately 2,500-square-foot interior the way many people approach decorating their home. “I’ve been living with the space and redecorating the rooms.” On the first floor, there are two main “living rooms” and a covered courtyard. The first room houses a dark wood bar, an exposed brick wall, a piano near the windows in the front and high-top tables with blue damask-upholstered bar stools. The blue damask is continued in the second room, which also has banquettes and low-slung
68 / Biz New Orleans / september 2018
The front bar is the scene for live music performances, with shows to accommodate both early birds and night owls. The 1,200-square-foot upstairs has three rooms with 12-foot ceilings — the Dauphine, Bourbon and Toulouse rooms — which are available for private parties and include access to the balcony overlooking St. Louis Street.