John Besh’s Latest New Orleans Restaurant Is a Reminder He Never Really Left

John Besh is opening a new restaurant in New Orleans, the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate reported last week, seven years after two dozen employees alleged a culture of rampant sexual harassment at his restaurants. The newspaper says Delacroix Fish Camp & Bar, opening next to the Riverwalk Outlets mall on Spanish Plaza, marks Besh’s return to restaurants, which begs the question: Did he ever really leave?

In an eight-month-long investigation by then-Times-Picayune reporter Brett Anderson in 2017, 25 current and former employees of the Besh Restaurant Group claimed to be victims of sexual harassment while on the job, resulting in two official complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Besh himself was also accused of sexual misconduct, with one former employee alleging in an EEOC complaint that she and Besh engaged in a “long-term unwelcome sexual relationship” and that he once “engaged in oral sex” with her while she was “barely conscious.” That complainant also claimed she experienced retaliation on the job when she attempted to end the relationship.

Besh relinquished his role as CEO of Besh Restaurant Group (later rebranded to BRG Hospitality) just days later, and issued a statement admitting to a “consensual relationship,” expressing regret for “harm this may have caused,” and apologizing “to anyone past and present who has worked for me who found my behavior as unacceptable as I do.”

He never left the company, however, nor did he divest financially from its restaurants. As co-owner and partner at the company, he has continued to profit from BRG’s 12 restaurants over the last seven years.

So what makes Delacroix, described as a Louisiana seafood restaurant with an oyster bar, different? What is Besh’s role at the restaurant? And why is now the time for Besh’s return to a more public-facing role at the company?

BRG’s communications manager told Eater that Besh’s role at Delacroix is “the same as his ongoing role at the other BRG Restaurants. He will work primarily with the back-of-house culinary staff, mentoring and training BRG’s many chefs.” He is not Delacroix’s executive chef, they said (whether that ends up being someone BRG promotes from within or brings in from the outside is still being decided).

As for the characterization of Besh being “back,” the representative said: “Neither BRG nor chef Besh has stated that he intends to take on a more public presence. Chef Besh is enthused and excited about the Spanish Plaza project and simply responded to a phone call,” from the newspaper. They reiterated, as the Advocate reported, that Besh “is not seeking to regain the spotlight, but instead plans to work behind the scenes to teach and inspire BRG’s young chefs, which is where chef Besh’s passion currently lies.”

BRG says that Shannon White, who replaced Besh as CEO following the allegations, remains in that role and oversees the day-to-day operations of the restaurant group. Octavio Mantilla, who co-founded the restaurant group with Besh in 2005 and was also accused in Anderson’s report and EEOC complaints of fostering a culture of sexual harassment and coercion, continues to co-own the company. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry recently appointed Mantilla as a commissioner for the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center. Mantilla told the newspaper that Besh’s “main role” at the company today is to “teach and inspire.”

For the past year, Besh has been more involved with BRG staff at Restaurant August, his flagship New Orleans restaurant, and Luke, his second restaurant, according to the newspaper, with Besh saying “This is what the company needs as new projects arise.” But what is this? The involvement of a former celebrity chef tarnished by what he himself deemed “unacceptable” behavior?

Another element powering Delacroix is the public’s unwitting participation in its funding. Earlier this year, the New Orleans City Council approved a measure allowing the operator of the Riverwalk Outlets mall, Houston-based real estate developer RockStep Capital, to raise up to $25 million for new retail, restaurant, and entertainment venues at Spanish Plaza — funded by charging an additional 2 percent sales tax on customers of the Riverwalk shops. Thus, money extracted from the public is being used to invest in Besh’s newest New Orleans restaurant.

In the years since Anderson’s watershed report, which was followed two months later by New York Times and Eater investigations on sexual misconduct by New York restaurateur Ken Friedman and celebrity chef Mario Batali, the accused have lost deals, restaurants, and popularity. Still, there are plenty of people comfortable eating at the restaurants of accused men, and recently, those men have moved towards reclaiming their former positions in society. Friedman quietly worked behind the scenes to bring LA hotspot Horses to life in 2021, and late last year, Batali began teasing a comeback on Instagram.

Construction on Delacroix Fish Camp & Bar began this week, says BRG, and is expected to open in early 2025.