The downtown building at 748 Camp St. has an alluring look within, and a significant role in New Orleans music history, though it has more recently sat dormant. That will soon change.
Junebug is a new bar now taking shape here, based around cocktails and a kitchen promising to help address the dearth of late-night food in this part of town. It’s expected to open in October.
Junebug is the latest project from Neighborhood Restaurant Group, which runs Brewery Saint X and the attached Devil Moon BBQ a few blocks away in the South Market District.
Who’s behind it
Neighborhood Restaurant Group is a hospitality company based in Washington D.C. with two dozen concepts, including a mix of taverns, bars and restaurants.
The interior of 748 Camp St. is under renovation for the next bar and kitchen here. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Company founder Michael Babin is originally from Baton Rouge, and partnerships and events have brought his company frequently to New Orleans, spurring Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s expansion here.
At the bar
A partner in the company is Greg Engert, a hospitality veteran who Food + Wine named sommelier of the year in 2010 for his prowess around beer. He joins the Junebug project as partner and beverage director.
The bar will be led by Sophie Burton, most recently of Bar Tonique and Holy Diver. She is developing a menu with cocktails served either “robust” or “refreshing,” the latter adding a lighter touch. The bar will also have a special focus on brandy, eau de vie and fruit-based spirits, craft beers with a mix of locals and hard-to-find imported brews and a wine selection from small producers.
Shannon Bingham is pitmaster at Devil Moon BBQ, a barbecue restaurant in downtown New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Shannon Bingham, chef at Devil Moon BBQ and Brewery Saint X, will also lead Junebug’s kitchen. Bingham is known for his barbecue (he also helms the Devil Moon team at Hogs for the Cause).
But Junebug will work different material, with a blend of French and Louisiana inspirations for a menu Bingham intends to be about “approachable but sophisticated bar food.”
“You’ll be able to come here for full meals or noshes and snacks, it’s a space for whatever you’re in the mood for,” he said.
Blue crab gratin with pan con tomate, foie gras mousse with banana bread and confit beef cheeks with sauce chasseur are some dishes in the works, along with snacks like smoked olives, spicy cheese straws and potato chips fried to order.
Junebug’s hours are still in the works, but Bingham said keeping the kitchen open late is a key part of the concept.
“It’s hard to find something that’s not fast food open late now, so we’re really hoping we can scratch that itch with a good, reliable place to get a quality meal and a drink after 10 p.m.,” he said.
History on the turntable
Record producer Cosimo Matassa stands in front of the building at 748 Camp Street that once housed his last recording studio. (TIMES-PICAYUNE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY NORMAN BERTEAUX JR.)
The record producer Cosimo Matassa, a highly influential architect of early rock ‘n’ roll, had his studio Jazz City on the building’s second floor from 1966 to 1978. Allen Toussaint recorded many hits here, and Jazz City is credited as the birthplace of The Meters, who started as Toussaint’s studio band during this time. Aaron Neville’s “Tell It Like It Is” is another hit recorded by Matassa here.
Record producer Cosimo Matassa sits in front of a building at 748 Camp Street that once housed his last recording studio. Photographed Oct. 1, 1986. (TIMES-PICAYUNE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY NORMAN BERTEAUX JR.)
Jazz City closed in 1978, and the building later became the New Orleans Zen Temple. It was turned into a restaurant called Doug’s Place in the 1990s and more recently was home to a burger spot called Phil’s Grill and then Rebellion Bar and Urban Kitchen, which closed in 2017.
Junebug plans to pay homage to the Matassa era here with a soundtrack based on a vinyl collection focused on the music of the early and mid-70’s.
Room to grow
The building inspired the project.
A once-covered parking lot area is part of the next concept for 748 Camp St. in downtown New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
“There’s something about that building that’s pretty magical, that thing that our old buildings do in this city,” Bingham said. “When we walked in, we all looked it at and thought this place is awesome, we should do something here.”
There’s a brick-lined courtyard in back that Junebug will use. Junebug also has access to what was a covered parking lot adjacent to the building, which is now a large open space with a brick wall on one side and metal framework above. Bingham said this could become a space for events as the Junebug concept progresses.
“It has enormous potential as an event space,” he said.
Junebug
748 Camp St., projected opening October 2024
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