Chef Eric Cook at Saint John: Semper Fidelis
Eric Cook at Saint John | photo by Ellis Anderson
March 2024A special ops Marine, itinerant cook, truck driver and cowboy: The youthful journeys of this award-winning chef shaped a man who’s still undaunted by challenges – and always up for a new adventure.
– by Kim Ranjbar and Ellis Anderson
When chef Eric Cook celebrated his 40th birthday several years back, he did so facing an uncertain future. He’d risen through the ranks to become a top sous chef at Commander’s Palace, but had left that behind, feeling ready to forge his own path. The successful restaurants he would go on to found and lead – Gris-Gris and Saint John – were mere glimmers in his eye.
The celebration was a quiet family one at an Uptown New Orleans restaurant, with only Cook’s wife Robyn, his mother, and his older sister visiting from Seattle. When it came time to open presents, Cook’s sister lugged in an enormous box she’d flown in with.
Wondering what could be worth the bother, Cook opened the box and was stunned to discover the backpack he’d abandoned at her Seattle home in 1995, when he’d been staying with her during a break in his cross-country adventures.
“She’d saved it intact,” he said. “It was like opening up a time capsule!”
The pack was filled with the young man’s clothes and belongings and journals he had been keeping – and a book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The veteran had been living out of the pack as he criss-crossed the country multiple times over several years, working as a “roving cook.” Or driving lumber trucks. Or herding cattle and horses at a ranch in Montana.
Cook says now of that long-ago stay in Seattle that he’d been spending most of his time in coffee shops, reading and writing. Then one day, his sister commandeered him, took him to Banana Republic and outfitted him with a slick new wardrobe.
“She told me that it was time go back home [to New Orleans] and do what I was supposed to be doing.”
Whatever that was.
Eric Cook, doing what he’s supposed to be doing at Saint John, photo by Ellis Anderson
The only thing certain at that point was Cook’s knowledge that he would not be spending time in an office cubicle. In his late 20s then, the native New Orleanian was already combat veteran of the Gulf War, serving six years as a member of the U.S. Marine Corp (SPECIAL OPS). When he left active duty, the vagabonding adventures began. But once Cook arrived back on his home turf with his new wardrobe, he buckled down for boot camp, studying under some of the country’s best chefs.
The young cook began training at the John Folse Culinary Institute and then moved on to work under Executive Chef Mike Roussel at Brennan's Restaurant on Royal Street, who he says influenced him deeply and from whom he took orders (“yes, chef!”) without question.
After five years at Brennan's, Cook moved from the French Quarter to the Garden District, spending several years as sous chef and chef de sortie. He says he “cut his teeth” at Commander’s Palace, working with James Beard Award-winner Tory McPhail, who was at that time the restaurant’s Executive Chef. The years spent between the two prestigious New Orleans establishments taught Cook that building a team and valuing everyone’s role is a core value of a good restaurant.
“Your ego as a chef is a very small piece of the puzzle,” he said. “The chessboard needs all the pieces.”
By the time Cook opened Gris-Gris in 2018, a Lower Garden District restaurant offering elevated Southern fare, he was already a well-seasoned chef who'd done his due diligence in kitchens across town. He's cooked for former President George W. Bush, events at the NFL Hall of Fame, Hurricane Katrina's first-responders, and burgeoning cooks at Edible Schoolyard.
As with everything else in his life, Cook's entrepreneurial jump into restaurant ownership was both enthusiastic and confident. Less than three years after launching Gris-Gris, he opened his second restaurant, Saint John – on the heels of the pandemic shutdowns.
photo by Randy Schmidt
Located on Decatur Street, Saint John is housed in the space that was once home to Maximo's Italian Grill, a hip, two-story, award-winning restaurant which opened in the 80s and lasted nearly 30 years. Though it was firmly in New Orleans's restaurant cannon, Maximo's unexpectedly closed in 2014, leaving the restaurant to sit empty for over a year. In 2015, developer Hugh Uhault purchased the century-old building, expensed a million-dollar renovation and opened Trinity, but the restaurant closed three years later.
When Robyn and Eric first entered the Decatur Street building, Robyn immediately knew they’d found the right place for their new restaurant.
“Right off, she knew the name and the décor, everything.
“We call her the DOA,” Eric said, laughing. “Director of Ambiance. Everything behind the line is mine. Everything in front is hers.”
Those boundaries have made for both a strong business partnership and a solid marriage. The chef explained that in the beginning years of their relationship, the couple’s standing joke was they’d get married when the Saints won the Superbowl. In 2010, when the hometown team actually did take home the rings, Robyn wanted hers as well.
“We partied all night with the rest of the city and then in the morning, she took me to the jewelry store,” he remembers, smiling. “A deal’s a deal, she told me.”
Robyn and Eric at Gris-Gris | photo by Randy Schmidt
It seems the industrious team brought their good-luck gris-gris as well as their commitment to Saint John. Whether it's the Vermillion Parish gumbo, friendly staff or “Guardians of the Groove” artwork adorning the walls, there seem to be a familiar vibration to the restaurant – like Maximo's vivacious spirit has returned in a shiny new suit. Both tourists and longtime residents responded from get-go, even in the quiet wake of the pandemic, when many French Quarter businesses were throwing in the towel.
Many regular customers agree that the menu is a key factor in the restaurant’s success, filled with bliss-in-your belly, Louisiana comfort cuisine – everything from turkey necks, and baked macaroni pie, to beef daube and shrimp remoulade. Simple fare becomes cuisine with Saint John’s quality ingredients and skillful preparation.
Paneed Double Cut Duroc Pork Chop, Italian Breadcrumbs, New Crop White Bean Cassoulet, photo courtesy Saint John
The stellar trinity of location, food and service enabled Saint John to keep its head above water after COVID and Hurricane Ida, but the beleaguered new business almost met its end last year at the hands of the local utility company.
In early November, Cook was gutted to discover Entergy, through automatic billing, charged the business $40,000, a 900% increase from their typical monthly cost. After months of verbally tussling with the monolithic corporation, Cook took to Instagram and announced the “indefinite” closure of Saint John, along with details of his plight.
Friends, fans, colleagues, fellow business owners and city council members heard the bugle cry and verbally stormed social media. A tentative agreement was reached with the utility giant, allowing Saint John to reopen. The chef expressed his thanks in a November 3 social media post:
“Wow. The outreach of support we’ve received over the last 24 hours has been overwhelming and reinforces why I love this city so damn much.”
But the experience has left Cook with many concerns:
“If we don't start to really care about the infrastructure of the French Quarter, its historic buildings, its businesses, will crumble. We have to stop looking the other way, stop the 'business-as-usual' mentality and make real changes,” observed Cook. “What is New Orleans without the French Quarter?”
But now he and the local troops of fans have taken back the hill, his commitment to Saint John seems Semper Fidelis.
“Owning a restaurant is the longest I’ve worked at one… You just gotta figure how you’re going to keep rolling around the wheel,” he said.
The speed is picking up on that particular wheel now. Cook consults with national restaurants. Gordon Ramsey featured him in an episode in Season Two of “Uncharted” and the two are friends. Soon a new line of spices – “Gris Gris” – will be hitting the market. And there’s a new cookbook, one that combines Cook’s writing and cooking talents, that will be published later this year.
Brown Butter Seared U-10 Diver Scallops, Confit Duck and Blackberry Crépinette, Sweet Potato Purée, Spiced Pecans with Chicory Green Salad, photo courtesy Saint John
But Cook seems solidly grounded. His sister’s message that came with his birthday backpack gift has clearly stuck.
“My sister told me that night that no matter what successes I had, the pack was a reminder to never forget where I came from.”
Cook holds that humility close, “staying in my lane” and mentoring younger chefs coming up. He tells them it’s a journey that’s often difficult. And he shares with them one key takeaway from his decades of experience:
“Being a chef is a tough way to make a living – but it’s a great life.”
Celebrating at Saint John: Executive Chef/owner Eric Cook and Chef de Cuisine Daren Porretto, photo courtesy Saint John
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