Restaurant Report - Maurepas Foods in New Orleans - NYTimes.com The scene at Maurepas Foods, a six-month-old restaurant in the Bywater section of New Orleans, would look familiar to any resident of East Williamsburg, Brooklyn; East Austin, Tex.; East Nashville; or any other outpost of creative urban revival. The restaurant, in a former warehouse in a residential area that is becoming a bohemian enclave, is designed with reclaimed wood, Warhol-esque prints and Edison bulb chandeliers over a copper bar. It has the Etsy vibe down pat. The food is just as handcrafted. The menu has Southern roots and a wild imagination: "think global, act local" for food. Next to the list of nearby farms that provide the ingredients, the dishes are described in unadorned terms that belie their complexity: squashes, blueberries, shiso oil and green peppercorns turn into a mouthful of spring-summer snap and burst, with a grilled kick to the vegetables. The chef and owner, Michael Doyle, has built a reputation in New Orleans: he cooked at Dante's Kitchen, a slightly pricier spot with a more classic Southern menu. At Maurepas, Mr. Doyle has kicked up the hip factor but kept prices low. Goat tacos come with pickled green tomatoes and cilantro harissa; mussels, with pear cider and king oyster mushrooms - and each is cheaper than a movie ticket. His market greens, a stewy version of collards with potatoes and locally smoked ham, are just $3. An elegant meal for two, without drinks, could easily run less than $35. But no one here is likely to be abstaining. Inventive cocktails like the Gent and the Jackass (bourbon, paprika simple syrup, lemon juice, peach bitters and basil) created by the "Chief Intoxicologist," Brad Smith, have been praised as among the best in town, no mean feat in liquor-loving Nola. And the wine and beer selection also runs from craft vineyards and breweries to the requisite cheapie, Pabst Blue Ribbon. Desserts, too, play at the border of high cuisine and comfort snacks, like the milk and cookies with "millionaire juice" (a grown-up milkshake of bourbon and cream). "Purveyors of Robust Cuisine" is the slogan written on the picture window at Maurepas, alongside line drawings of vegetables and animals. There are no sketches of happy customers and culinary ambition, but peer inside, and that's exactly what you'll see. Maurepas Foods, 3200 Burgundy Street; (504) 267-0072; facebook.com/MaurepasFoods.