The view is timeless, though the restaurant that now gives a vantage to appreciate is bringing something new with fresh pasta, Italian cocktails and a salumi bar.
Trattoria Varco is a new Italian restaurant in the Four Seasons New Orleans hotel that overlooks a majestic sweep of the Mississippi River. It is now open in the window-lined space on the hotel’s fifth floor.
Terrace seating offers open-air tables with a view at Trattoria Varco, the riverfront Italian restaurant at the Four Seasons New Orleans hotel.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
This space had previously been home to chef Donald Link’s restaurant Chemin à la Mer, which moved earlier this fall to a new location on the ground floor, adjacent to the hotel’s Chandelier Bar and its lobby (taking over from the former Miss River restaurant, which closed in August after a five-year run). Rather than partner with another chef, the hotel developed and runs Trattoria Varco as its own in-house concept.
The layout is the same as its predecessor, with a bar and lounge area opening to a long dining room situated to make the most of the river view and opening to a curving terrace set with outdoor tables.
Trattoria Varco is the riverfront Italian restaurant at the Four Seasons New Orleans hotel.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
But what had been an oyster bar is now Trattoria Varco’s salumi bar, where diners can watch as staff make hand-pulled fresh burrata and build meat boards and crudo plates.
On the menu
The menu draws from the classic Italian approach of straightforward, ingredient-driven dishes focused on a handful of quality ingredients, led by Four Seasons chef de cuisine Glen Forman.
Lamb agnolotti and blue crab risotto share the menu with pizza, steak and crudo plates, including one made with yellowfin set off by umami-rich tonnato and fried capers for a salty crunch.
Spaghetti cacio e pepe is served at Trattoria Varco, the riverfront Italian restaurant at the Four Seasons New Orleans hotel.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
Spaghetti cacio e pepe is finished with a blend of ground peppers for a burst of flavor over pasta so creamy rich it sticks to the fork, and the cioppino seafood stew has a mix of fish, shrimp and clams with lumps of local crab meat in a heady tomato broth.
The desserts, from hotel pastry chef Emily Rosenberg, include bombolini, a fried pastry puff that is like an airy-light doughnut, finished with gingered sugar and a white chocolate pistachio cream.
Bombolini, light fried puffs with white chocolate pistachio cream, is served at Trattoria Varco, the riverfront Italian restaurant at the Four Seasons New Orleans hotel.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
The restaurant is making a range of salumi in house and breads, and it uses locally-produced cheese from Feliciana’s Best Creamery and oysters from Grand Isle-based farmers.
The lounge, now called Bar Varco, has its own menu with pizzettas, baked provolone, crostini, raw oysters and salumi plates. With Italian-inspired cocktails, the bar, restaurant and terrace are places for a aperitivo, the Italian notion of happy hour, with a good long look at that river view.
A Campari shakerato is part of the drinks list at Trattoria Varco, the riverfront Italian restaurant at the Four Seasons New Orleans hotel.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
The name varco, Italian for passage, is a reference to the river. Through the windows, or over the rail of the terrace, there’s the capitating view of its course and ships navigating its dramatic turns.
Trattoria Varco serves dinner Tue.-Sat., 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m, and serves a separate breakfast menu daily, 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Note that the availability of outdoor tables depends on the weather.
Four Season New Orleans hotel
2 Canal St., 504-434-5100
