In New York City, brothers Alex and Miles Pincus have built a restaurant group called Crew. It’s known for beautiful settings, including on historic sailing vessels, and for a fixation on oysters.
The brothers came to love oysters naturally while growing up in New Orleans, where they also learned about hospitality from close family in the business.
Soon, they will open a new restaurant in the French Quarter that draws a full circle back home and brings new life to a storied building.
Holywater is now taking shape at 622 Conti St., with renovations underway for a planned opening later this spring.
Salon by Sucre, shown here in 2017, was an upscale sweets boutique, restaurant and tea room in the French Quarter. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The three-story building has been dormant since 2019, with the demise of the dessert shop and restaurant Salon by Sucre.
To lead the kitchen, Alex Pincus recruited a highly regarded name in local dining, Alex Harrell, previously of Sylvain, his own Angeline, the Elysian Bar and, most recently, the Gloriette in Covington.
On the menu
The new restaurant will share some DNA with another called Holywater that Crew runs in New York. That one is in a subterranean space and has been hailed for its impressive design and robust take on oysters and seafood. It also has a strong undercurrent of New Orleans flavor, from Sazeracs to gumbo.
Gumbo, fried chicken, lobster frites and fish share a table with drinks and snacks at Holywater, a seafood restaurant in New York that will soon have a sister restaurant in the French Quarter. (Photo by Alex Staniloff)
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The New Orleans version of Holywater will have a similar menu with fruits de mer towers, caviar, burgers, fried chicken, lobster rolls and charbroiled lobster frites and gumbo among the options.
Oysters will feature prominently, with a selection from the East Coast, West Coast and Gulf Coast, and an oyster called Sailor Baby that Crew developed to spec with a farm off Long Island.
Crew runs a half dozen concepts in New York. They started in 2014 with one called Grand Banks, which turned a 1940s-vintage sailing ship into a floating oyster bar on the Hudson River.
Culinary director for the company is Kerry Heffernan, who Pincus describes as the “spiritual guide” for chefs in his group. He was previously executive chef at Eleven Madison Park, where he worked with Danny Meyer developing his Shake Shack burger concept.
Three stories of history
In New Orleans, the building itself will be a defining feature of Holywater.
It dates to 1837 and began as a chandlery, outfitting ships working the Mississippi River. In the 1970’s and ’80s it was Melius Bar, a name that lives on with a bar and grill in Bucktown. The history and texture of the building are what drew Crew to this French Quarter spot.
“It couldn’t fit into what we do any better,” Pincus said.
Cocktails and snacks at Holywater, a seafood restaurant in New York that will soon have a sister restaurant in the French Quarter. (Photo by Alex Staniloff)
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Holywater is designed to be a casual, social space. A set of French doors will open from the street to an oyster and cocktail bar on the first floor. The second floor will have the main dining room with balcony seating, and a small lounge in the back that can be a private dining room. Eventually, they plan to open the third floor as a lounge and event space, possibly with live music.
A hospitality family
This new Holywater is also located at what Pincus calls “the epicenter” of his formative years.
His first family home was around the corner on Royal Street. His father, Ronald Pincus, managed nearby hotels, first the Royal Orleans Hotel (now the Omni Royal Orleans), and later the Hotel Monteleone, and his mother Anne Pincus operated a praline brand in the Quarter (they still serve her pralines at Holywater).
This isn’t the first venture for the brothers in their hometown. In fact, Pincus thinks of Holywater as a prequel to the New York edition, in the style of Star Wars movies looping back to origin stories.
A fruits de mer platter at Holywater, a seafood restaurant in New York that will soon have a sister restaurant in the French Quarter. (Photo by Alex Staniloff)
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That’s because he had initially planned to open it in New Orleans. Instead, he and his brother partnered with the Ace Hotel brand and the result was Seaworthy, the downtown oyster bar and restaurant that’s now operated by the Barnett Hotel. The Pincus brothers have recently resumed consulting on the operation of Seaworthy.
“I’m glad we waited and had an opportunity to do the test run in New York,” he said of Holywater. “What’s missing (in New York) is whatever is on the air in New Orleans that makes people act the way they do and feel the way they do. That’s the one thing I couldn’t bring to New York.”
622 Conti St., projected opening late spring 2026