Finally, the day Mark and Donna Benfatti have dreamed of has arrived. They’ve thought that before, but now it’s real. N’Tini’s will be no more after this Sunday, June 23rd. The door will close on the restaurant, and on a glorious chapter as a social house before anyone was calling it that hip name.
The Benfatti's go way back in the restaurant business. Donna’s parents had two diners and a coffee shop in St. Bernard Parish before Mark arrived on the scene. Together they opened N’Tini’s in Chalmette in 2004, 18 months before the Big One. The Hurricane Katrina purge blew the couple to St. Tammany Parish along with so many thousands of others, and a community was already waiting for them. N’Tini’s relocated in a building whose glory days were long gone, when Kenny Lacour opened in that location with his fondly-remembered Creola. Rockefellers never really caught on, and N’Tini’s opened its doors to an excited and grateful group of fun-loving transplants.
Mark Benfatti has always been more of a marketer than a restaurateur, though they have been successful restaurateurs for a very long time. His ideas for marketing come rapid fire, and N’Tini’s hosted so many events that began with dinner that it’s impossible to count them. It was a hangout and night out for the Mandeville moms, and an overall party place.
But these two are also successful contractors and designers, with a booming business on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, so when the Legacy Kitchen folks wanted in on the north shore, it became Legacy North. A very nice renovation was done and the whole operation lasted 19 months when Mark and Donna took it back. Duke Locicero was brought in after a long line of sometimes very good chefs like Pete Kusiw. Duke moved on in just a year.
Enter a New Orleans group that is expanding, and Mark and Donna said yes. Yes. YES. Extensive renovations will commence and an announcement will be made. Opening date will be announced. But if you have wonderful memories of a fun place that was a part of your life for 13 years, get in there to say goodbye. After Sunday, N’Tini’s is no more.
N’Tini’s
2891 Hwy 190 Mandevile
985-626-5566
