Two years after renovating Jed’s Local in Mid City, restaurateurs Sally and Russell Davis are ready for a new venture.
Enter: Josephine’s Italian Restaurant.
In the space that was formerly Roman’s Greek and Lebanese Cafe on Government Street in Baton Rouge, the couple will pay homage to Russell’s maternal grandmother, the restaurant’s namesake. They will use her recipes for meatballs, pomodoro and antipasta.
“She was pretty much the reason why I fell in love with cooking, and she’s 100% Sicilian,” said Russell Davis, who called his grandmother “Nan.”
Nan’s parents, his great-grandparents, came over from Sicily, went through Ellis Island and eventually settled in Massachusetts. Growing up in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, he remembers his grandmother’s Sunday dinners, watching her sauce simmer on the stove while she sneaked him meatballs.
He moved to Louisiana in 1989 when he was 23.
The goal of the new restaurant is to bring that same intimate, family feeling to Josephine’s. Russell Davis says they hope to open by the new venture before the end of the year.
His goal is to fill it with people who have great conversation while eating delicious food based the Italian classics his grandmother made.
The menu will include risotto, polenta, lasagna, osso buco, pizza, pasta, a panzanella salad and local seafood. A frequent visitor of the Red Stick Farmers Market, Russell Davis is focused on using local farmers in all of his restaurants. Along with Jed’s Local, the Davises also own Eliza Restaurant & Bar.
“We’re going to use as much local produce to try to create a marriage between Italy and Louisiana,” he said of Josephine’s.
For dessert, “you gotta have panna cotta and tiramisu,” he said.
The restaurant will also feature daily specials. On Sundays, they will serve brunch.
“Mid City is growing in all kinds of different directions, so we’re excited to piggyback off of Jed’s right around the corner,” Russell Davis said. “It gives us a lot of satisfaction to hear the positive things people say, and to walk into the dining room and see a bunch of smiling faces, people hanging out on dates or families together, it’s really rewarding.”
Dining and Cooking