New Orleans Chef’s Businesses Cook up Bankruptcy Filing

A New Orleans chef whose beloved restaurants rode out Hurricane Katrina put a handful of his business ventures into bankruptcy Thursday.

Scott Boswell, the brains behind the casual restaurant Stanley and the recently closed fine-dining restaurant Stella!, signed the Chapter 11 petitions of four companies that sought protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Orleans. The businesses are Stanley of New Orleans LLC, Scott Boswell Enterprises LLC, The Paint Factory LLC and The New World Labor Force LLC.

Together, the businesses manage and operate Stanley and, until recently, Stella! and employ about 120 people. Court papers show that the companies aim to continue operating during the Chapter 11 restructuring.

Stella!, Mr. Boswell’s longstanding flagship restaurant, closed its doors Wednesday in what the chef and wife Tanya Boswell hailed as “the toughest decision” of their lives. They said the move would allow them to renew their focus on brother restaurant Stanley “in the best interest of the long-term sustainability of our company.”

A casual restaurant that serves breakfast all day, Stanley’s menu includes items like bananas foster French toast, chicken and alligator sausage gumbo, Louisiana crawfish and gulf shrimp étouffée, and homemade ice cream.

In court papers, the companies’ bankruptcy attorney said despite the formal restaurant’s critical acclaim and “culinary success,” Stella! has struggled financially.

“Although Stanley has generally been a source of positive revenues, management and economic factors made Stella! unprofitable in recent years,” court papers say.

The companies’ bankruptcy attorney and a representative of Mr. Boswell’s companies couldn’t be reached for comment.

According to Bloomberg, Stanley was the first French Quarter restaurant to re-open after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005. And Stella! gained notoriety several years ago when a GQ writer recounted a memorable encounter there with actor Nicolas Cage, which seems fitting given the restaurants’ dramatic namesake.

Separately in New Orleans restaurant bankruptcy news, the Times-Picayune reported that noted restaurateur Ralph Brennan is hoping to acquire the right to use the name “Brennan’s” in his bid to reopen the famed French Quarter restaurant. The restaurant closed a year ago and entered bankruptcy proceedings.

Write to Jacqueline Palank at jacqueline.palank@wsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @PalankJ.

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