Donald Link, chef and owner of Cochon Restaurant, Cochon Butcher and Herbsaint, on Thursday announced plans to open a second location of Cochon Restaurant in Lafayette, La.
Link and Cochon partner Stephen Stryjewski plan to begin construction in the fall and to open the new restaurant in spring 2011.
“Chef Stephen and I did extensive research to find the most natural market for our style and plan, but we always came back to Louisiana,” said Link, who grew up in the area, “It just made sense to bring it all back home.”
The property, surrounded by trees and overlooking the Vermillion River, will feature a 2,000-square-foot deck, a bar with eating capacity up to 50 and a dining room larger than the original Cochon in New Orleans' Warehouse District.
Link and Stryjewski’s Cochon menu will maintain its emphasis on authentic Cajun and Southern foods and add some new dishes, the pair said.
“I am very proud of the food we are crafting at Cochon and I look forward to sharing it with the people who made me who I am today,” Link said.
Link’s Herbsaint earned him a James Beard award in 2007 for Best Chef South. It was inducted in 2009 into Nation’s Restaurant News Fine-Dining Hall of Fame.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].