Princess Power
December 9, 2015
Loretia Plemons
December 9, 2015
Cypress Bayou is investing $20 million into renovating and expanding its Charenton casino in the coming year.
Anthony Petrone, CEO and general manager of Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel, unveiled the renovation, titled Project Cypress, Thursday. Plans include adding two new restaurants and a gift shop, as well as a general facelift. The hotel is also included, with plans to add a water feature.
“This opportunity will spring us forward to the next level and give us the ability to offer the same level of quality, but with a newer and more modern feel,” Petrone said.
Petrone and representatives of the Chitimacha Tribe, which oversees the property, celebrated the opening of Mabel’s Kitchen, which serves breakfast, burgers and sandwiches, soups and salads and the like.
Mabel’s is named after Mabel Darden Vilcan, who cooked at the Chitimacha School for several years. “Aunt Mabel,” as she was affectionately known, was a talented cook and baker, and was considered generous, caring, kind, witty and wise.
Cypress Bayou will open, its second restaurant, Café Delphines, which replaces Café Bayou, before the new year, Petrone said. Similar to Mabel’s and the casino’s other eateries – Bocat’s Oyster Bar and Mr. Lester’s Steakhouse – Café Delphines’s namesake is a tribal member. Delphine Darden Stouff was a medicine woman known for her snakebite cure. Petrone said she was the last fluent speaker of the Chitimacha language.
The hotel’s expanded pool area will include a pool bar, lazy river and poolside cabanas, Petrone said, providing guests with a “resort element.”
“This is all to help ensure guests have everything they would expect when visiting a casino hotel, and more,” he said. “We want to be the premier location for those looking to take a getaway trip or to bring the family along for great food, live entertainment and experiences they will never forget. We want to give the entire casino a modern and fresh look for our guests.” •
Mabel’s Kitchen inside Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel in Charenton is officially open. Pictured from left at the ribbon cutting are Jacob Darden, Chitimacha Tribal Council; Tara Trahan, executive director of compliance; Jacqueline Junca, secretary treasurer of Chitimacha Tribal Council; O’Neil Darden, chairman of Chitimacha Tribal Council; Anthony Patrone, general manager and CEO; and Jack Darden, executive director of facilities of Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel.
Chitimacha Tribal Council Chairman O’Neil Darden discusses the $20 million upgrades planned for the coming year at Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel. Improvements include the addition of a lazy river to the hotel’s pool.
