Gordon Ramsay is in Louisiana for Kitchen Nightmares season 9 ahead of Super Bowl LIX to help restaurant owners and staff prepare for the influx of visitors in town for the big game. One of the restaurants Ramsay visited is Kindred, known for its vegan cuisine. So is Kindred still open?
Ramsay visited Kindred in the January 28 episode of Kitchen Nightmares season 9. Here's the episode description: "Chef Ramsay helps a vegan restaurant struggling with a lack of direction."
We're happy to report that Kindred is still open.
Kindred opened its doors in January 2020 and its focus is on 100% vegan food options. The small local business is proud to be woman-owned and according to the website the restaurant and the menu are in the middle of an update. (We're unclear whether the menu re-vamp was done before or after Ramsay's visit)
We took a look at Kindred's website and it looks like the vegan restaurant offers dine-in, take-out and catering options. It also notes that the staff does event planning. The Kindred menu is fairly limited, but everything looks tasty. The chipotle corn ribs on the starter menu look like fried octopus while the fried cauliflower has been battered and fried before being tossed in a choice of three sauces. There are only two options for sides (waffle fries or mac & cheese) and five mains, including a cauliflower poboy and roasted tomato risotto. There's a happy hour menu on the specials tab of the website with lots of drink options and an assortment of appetizers, all for $4.
Kindred has a Google rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars with 222 reviews as of this writing. Interestingly, the older reviews (from over a year ago) were very flattering, offering high praise for Kindred's menu but the items mentioned are not included in the menu presented on the website. The most recent review was from four weeks ago and was a 2-star review because the restaurant's hours were not listed properly on the website and the patron arrived to find it closed. There's a 5-star review with no explanation, also from a month ago, as well as a 1-star review from three months ago that notes it's an "overpriced food boutique" and that the "menu change was a bad idea." However, there are also several 5-star reviews from four to five months ago that offer high praise, including one comment from a customer who drives in from Mississippi to eat there.
Thus far in Kitchen Nightmares season 9, Ramsay visited Iberville Cuisine & Oyster Bar and Voleo's Seafood Restaurant. Both establishments needed some tough love from Ramsay and his team, but they're both still open and that's a good thing.
Kitchen Nightmares season 9 airs Tuesday nights at 8 pm ET/PT on Fox, with new episodes streaming the following day on Hulu.
