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The first totally-new restaurant in a decade at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino is about to debut, and it’s designed to be an experience.
Coraline’s seafood restaurant opens June 17 in what once was Memphis Q, next to BetMGM, and it’s unlike any other seafood restaurant on the Coast.
The entrance takes customers from the action of the casino floor through an “alley” decorated with art, into the restaurant and upscale bar. The floors are a mosaic of marble and wood. The tables, chairs and booths are a mix of materials. Instead of aqua like many seafood restaurants, Coraline’s reflects the nature of South Mississippi in shades of soft greens and soothing florals, all captured by Avenue Interior Design, based in Los Angeles.
Coraline’s has the look and feel of a New Orleans courtyard— but with South Mississippi water and sunset views through the new arched windows.
A meeting of MGM executives determined the resort needed two elements — a seafood restaurant and a view — said Brandon Dardeau, president and chief operating officer at the Beau Rivage.
Coraline’s satisfies both, he said, with a $10 million investment between this new restaurant and the recent makeover of the buffet.
Local chefs and seafood
“People come from all over the country for our seafood,” Dardeau said of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, so it made sense to create a dedicated seafood restaurant.
Coraline’s is an old Southern name with a nod to coral, and hints at Southern elegance and service.
It’s taken months of preparation and creativity from executive chef Kristian Wade and Coraline’s executive chef Austin Dedeaux to create a menu that will showcase the fresh local oysters, crab, snapper and redfish. They still are refining the menu leading up to the opening.
Both chefs are natives of South Mississippi and have three decades of combined experience at the Beau Rivage and other Coast restaurants.
The majority of the staff at Coraline’s came from other restaurants at the Beau Rivage, providing an opportunity for those who were working part-time to move into full-time positions, Dardeau said.
Chef Austin started working at BR Prime steakhouse in 2017, became sous chef in 2020 and shortly after was promoted to chef.
“He could have stayed at the No. 1 restaurant in the state,” Dardeau said, but he moved from the steakhouse to the new seafood restaurant.
“I feel like everything that we could have accomplished there we’ve accomplished.” the chef said of BR Prime. He and his team increased the volume, the staffing and oversaw the outfitting of a totally new kitchen.
“I wanted a new challenge,” he said, and at 31, he’s never opened a restaurant from scratch to this extreme.
His mentor, Shayne Varone, also is a big part of the new restaurant, he said.
“I’ve been working with him or under him since I was 19,” Dedeaux said. Varone created his cajun cream sauce when he was a chef at Vrazel’s seafood restaurant in Gulfport. He brings it to Coraline’s for the Lighthouse oysters topped with crawfish, andouille sausage, tomato and his savory veloute.
The menu
That’s one of a half-dozen oyster dishes featured at the restaurant’s oyster bar, where chefs will prepare New Orleans style chargrilled oysters, oysters Rockefeller, Coraline’s signature 875 oysters with blue crab and shrimp and the oyster sampler platter.
The menu lists a variety of hot and cold appetizers and they come out of the kitchen on tableware selected to enhance the presentation. Especially enticing are the West Indies crab salad with crispy flat bread and the tuna poke tostado made with fresh tuna and served on a dish reminiscent of a shell but more stylistic.
The deviled crab dip, a Swiss cheese fondue with blue crab, is a tribute to Memphis Q restaurant. Other starters are a crawfish etouffee in puff pastry, a BLT wedge salad or one of three soups — seafood gumbo, oyster bisque and turtle soup.
In addition to the local seafood that will become signature dishes like Snapper Coraline, fresh fish will be flown in daily from around the country and showcased as “catch of the day” specials.
Steamed seafood includes a two-pound Maine lobster, royal red shrimp or crab legs. Those who prefer meat can choose from sticky chicken Ballotine, blackened NY strip, filet mignon or a prime pork porterhouse with caramelized onions and pickled pepperoncini, with extras like fresh greens, sweet potato souffle and fried okra for Southern flair.
For those who appreciate a decadent dessert, Coraline’s provides a memorable ending with hummingbird cheesecake brulee, chocolate bread pudding or banana Foster sauce and brown sugar ice cream.
All this comes out of the most futuristic kitchen at the resort, said Chef Wade.
“The company spent close to $1 million,” said Chef Dedeaux, on kitchen equipment that has features like a saute station that lets the chefs prepare a sauce on the front burner while the fish cooks on the back.
The drinks
Popular Beau Rivage bartender Ashton McCasland moved over from Black Clover to Coraline’s, bringing customers’ favorites and introducing new choices of his specialty craft cocktails.
He expect Night on the Bayou blueberry lavender martini to be one of the favorites, along with a Magnolia sour and dessert cocktails like strawberry shortcake martini.
The wine list will be among the best on the property, he said, with premium selections by the glass selected by the new sommelier. A few choice beers also will be on the beverage list.
Family connection
Coraline’s continues a tradition at the Beau Rivage of hiring and developing the best local talent for its restaurants, and sometimes that talent runs in the family.
Kendall Dedeaux, who died last year, was the general manager at the former Memphis Q restaurant years ago when Wade was the executive chef. Dedeaux went on to operate other restaurants at Orange Beach and in Ocean Springs, where his son Austin worked with him at the Ocean Springs Yacht Club.
“He was tough,” Austin said of his father. “He was known for how he took care of people,” he said, and left a good legacy for his son and others to follow.
Chef Wade has been at the Beau Rivage nearly 26 years. “I still love it,” he said. Creating Coraline’s was just the latest challenge, and he’s happy with the experience he and the team created.
“This is us. This is who we are,” he said.
If you go:
Coraline’s opens June 17 and will be open Sunday, Monday and Thursday from 4:30-10 p.m. and until 10:30 p.m Friday and Saturday
Reservations: 888-750-7111
This story was originally published June 4, 2024, 10:30 AM.
Mary Perez has won awards for her business and casino articles for the Sun Herald. She also writes about Biloxi, jobs and the new restaurants and development coming to the Coast. She is a fourth-generation journalist.
