The Man Who Started a Restaurant Dynasty
Owen Brennan didn't live long enough to see what he started. He died in 1955 at forty-five years old, just three years after opening the restaurant that bears his name. But in those three years, he planted the seed for what would become the most influential restaurant family in New Orleans history—and arguably in America.
Brennan was born in New Orleans in 1910, the son of Irish immigrants in a city where the Irish had fought hard for their place at the table. He grew up in the French Quarter and had the natural gregariousness that the restaurant business requires—he was the kind of man who knew everyone's name, everyone's drink, and everyone's story. Before he opened his own place, he ran the Old Absinthe House bar on Bourbon Street, where he built a reputation as one of the great hosts in a city full of them.
The legend goes that Count Arnaud—Arnaud Cazenave, the founder of Arnaud's—once told Brennan that no Irishman could run a real French Creole restaurant. Whether the story is true or apocryphal, it captures the spirit of what drove Brennan: the determination to prove that he could compete with the grand old French Creole establishments that had dominated New Orleans dining for a century.
He opened Brennan's on Royal Street in 1946, initially at a different location, before moving to the iconic building at 417 Royal in 1954. What Brennan created was something new—a restaurant that honored the French Creole tradition but brought an Irish-American energy and showmanship to it. He essentially invented the New Orleans power breakfast, turning the morning meal into an event complete with cocktails, elaborate egg dishes, and desserts that arrived on fire.
Bananas Foster, the flambéed banana dessert that became one of the most famous dishes in New Orleans, was created at Brennan's in 1951, named after Richard Foster, a friend of Owen's and a prominent New Orleans businessman. The dish—bananas sautéed in butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, doused in rum and banana liqueur and set ablaze tableside—became the restaurant's signature and one of the defining dishes of New Orleans cuisine.
But Owen Brennan's greatest legacy wasn't any single dish—it was the family he inspired. After his death, his siblings and their children took the Brennan name and turned it into a restaurant empire. Commander's Palace, Mr. B's Bistro, Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse, Palace Café, Tableau—the Brennan family's restaurants became the backbone of New Orleans fine dining. Ella Brennan, Owen's sister, turned Commander's Palace into perhaps the greatest restaurant in the South, launching the careers of Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse along the way.
Owen Brennan proved the Count wrong. An Irishman could absolutely run a French Creole restaurant—and his family would go on to run a dozen of them, reshaping New Orleans dining in the process. He didn't get to see any of it, but every time someone orders Bananas Foster or walks through the doors at Commander's Palace, Owen Brennan's bet is still paying off.
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