Congratulations to 2015 Honorary Muse Sue Zemanick on Zasu’s Michelin Star

Originally published on NOLA.com on November 3, 2025

This Mid-City restaurant that’s hidden in plain sight just earned a Michelin star

On one of the busier streets in New Orleans, this upscale restaurant looks like an ordinary fixture of Mid-City when you’re quickly driving by.

Now, the hidden gem called Zasu by celebrity chef Sue Zemanick has a Michelin star in the inaugural American South guide.

Since its first dinner on New Year’s Eve in 2018, Zasu has served inspired dishes that draw from owner and chef Sue Zemanick’s Slavic background and love of seafood, offering a creative dining experience.

Earning a Michelin star means this restaurant uses top-quality ingredients with distinct flavors and prepares dishes to a consistently high standard, according to the guide’s standards.

Zasu’s history

As the pieces came together in the fall of 2018, Zemanick revealed details of what Zasu would be.

Derived from zasa, the restaurant name is a Slovak term for “once again,” which Zemanick explained was picked as a tribute to her Czech family heritage.

After months of a massive renovation, opened her first solo venture, aiming to let fresh ingredients speak for themselves, at 127 N. Carrollton Ave. It’s tucked away behind a gate that separates it from the bustling street.

And while it offers an upscale dining experience, Zasu maintains a neighborhood bistro feel.

The menu incorporates Zemanick’s passion for seafood and delicious vegetables. Whether it’s the grilled octopus, pierogis, or the latest inspired entrée, diners appreciate the kitchen’s ability to blend flavors in a light, intricate way.

Who is chef Sue Zemanick?

Zemanick worked in fine-dining restaurants in high school and set her sights on being a chef. She attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York, where she developed a love of seafood.

Zemanick moved to New Orleans in 2002 and began working at Commander’s Palace, a restaurant that has launched many great chefs. She then worked at Gautreaus’s Restaurant, where she was named executive chef just before Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

She was named one of the best new chefs in America by Food & Wine Magazine in 2008. Zemanick was nominated as a finalist for the James Beard Award’s Rising star Chef multiple times before winning the Best Chef: South distinction in 2014.

Ahead of her James Beard Award wins, she appeared on Bravo’s “Top Chef” television shows as a contestant and later as a judge in 2011 and 2013, respectively.

While she has won many distinctions as a chef and run restaurants that garnered recognition over the last two decades, Zemanick still considers her greatest honor to be serving as an honorary Muse for the Krewe of Muses in 2015.