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From ‘Daily Report’: White Star Market delayed; Waitr buys Indie Plate and launches incubator

Square 46, White Star Market now aiming for early spring opening

Wet winter weather, including a December snowfall and January ice storm, have delayed completion of the mixed-use development Square 46 on Government Street and its anchor tenant, White Star Market, a gourmet food hall concept.

Developers had hoped to have the 25,000-square-foot facility—which will include eight, two-bedroom apartment units, retail and office space, and the food hall—open for business by January. Now, they’re shooting for completion by the end of the first quarter or early second quarter.

“We need a run of dry weather,” says Josh Hoffpauir, architect for the project and developer of Square 46. “We don’t just need one dry day but several dry days.”

Read the full story from Daily Report.


Waitr acquires Indie Plate, launches new restaurant incubator

Waitr, the rapidly growing tech startup that provides restaurant delivery service through its signature app, has acquired select assets of Indie Plate, which shuttered earlier this month, and is launching a restaurant incubator designed to help aspiring chefs in Baton Rouge get their restaurants off the ground.

The Waitr Restaurant Incubator Lab, as the new initiative is called, will be located at Celtic Studios, where Indie Plate had its 1,200-square-foot commercial kitchen and ran its dinner-to-door meal subscription service. Waitr has acquired Indie Plate’s kitchen equipment and has also hired Indie Plate’s entire staff of six employees, who will work at the new incubator.

Waitr founder Chris Meaux had been thinking for a couple of years about developing a restaurant incubator in Baton Rouge, which is one of the strongest markets for the Lake Charles-based Waitr. But it wasn’t until Indie Plate ran into financial troubles earlier this year that Meaux saw an opportunity to turn the idea into a reality and reached out to Indie Plate owner Peru Sharma, who will be joining the incubator staff.

Read the full story from Daily Report.


La Salle’s Crawfish and Lobster Roll eyes spring opening on Perkins Road

Work is underway on a new crawfish and lobster roll restaurant in the Acadian-Perkins Plaza Shopping Center on Perkins Road, with the owners eyeing a spring opening.

La Salle’s Crawfish and Lobster Roll is the first restaurant venture by Jeff Simoneaux, who works for Shell Geismar, and his business partner, Leo Scott. The concept will be quick-casual and will offer several types of crawfish and lobster rolls, salads, tacos and other items, along with Tin Roof, Abita and other draft beers.

“This is going to be our pilot store,” Simoneaux says, adding his wife, Juliet, will run the day-to-day operations. “We’re hoping to open another one in the next year or two.”

Read the full story from Daily Report.