re: Stella in N.O. is closed

It's not uncommon for restaurants like this to struggle financially in spite of having great food and service. It takes an enormous amount of focus and energy to operate at a high level consistently for a long time. Throw in rising food costs and without multiple restaurants and the scale that comes with that, and it's easy to see why good, well run restaurants often close. Look at NY and all the name chefs, almost all of them have multiple restaurants: Boulud, Jean Georges, Batali, Chang, Coliccio, Andrew Carmelini, et al, have all built successful restaurant groups, often in multiple cities. Danny Meyer, one of the most successful restauranteurs in the world basically breaks even with Gramercy Tavern, Maialino, The Modern, Untitled, Union Square Cafe, etc, and makes most if not all his profits from his Shake Shack chain.

Stella was/is a great restaurant. Best wishes for those folks, whatever they decide to do next.