Photos by Sean Gasser

The new Basel’s Market is what cottagecore dreams are made of

When Basel’s Market opened its brick-and-mortar location on Highland Road near Lee Drive last week, we peeked inside its charming brick façade and instantly swooned—not just at the savory and sweet treats within, but at the vintage vibes checking off all our cottagecore goals.

“I wanted the space to have a homey feel, and I figured, ‘what’s more homey than making it like my own home?'” says owner Kalyn Lindsly, who designed the interior herself. “There’s lots of blue and white pottery, lots of flowers, and the space feels very clean and open.”

Owner Kalyn Lindsly

But it’s not just the accessories that help achieve Lindsly’s vision. The building itself finds its origins in the 1800s and was transferred from New Orleans to Baton Rouge soil. Details like an original fireplace in one of the main dining areas keep this history in the forefront of diners’ minds and give the space a unique and lived-in feel.

The stained glass pieces over the restroom door and in the kitchen are original to the building, as are the wood floors that transition from a glossy brown to a farmhouse white depending on their location in the floor plan. Light wood paneling on the front-facing walls gives the space an almost Western-inspired coziness, and where the shiplap walls needed sprucing up, Kalyn jumped in with a new coat of paint, adding contemporary stripes in white and warm gray. Just like a home contains many rooms, so Basel’s Market embraces the unusual flow of its space—unusual for a restaurant, at least.

 

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“The layout is technically two houses, which the owner called greenhouses,” says Lindsly. “The front room is for dining, the middle room is the kitchen, and the other part of the first house is another dining area, plus a cute hallway that leads to a little gift shop, where you can also find a tall glass freezer filled with a bunch of our soups and tarts.”

As for the pottery, vases and porcelain plates decorating the walls and shelves, Lindsly collected them from an assortment of locales, whether scooped up from Bloomingdale’s or harvested from antique shops in Baton Rouge and St. Francisville, not to mention the sprawling Round Top Antiques Show.

“I had themes in mind for each room based on the objects you find in them,” says Lindsly. “The front room I call the plate room, the kitchen I call the basket room, and the third room is my boxwood room. It’s just fun—and I love a good theme.”

To see for yourself all the details and personal touches of the new Basel’s Market, check out the restaurant’s Instagram or stop by in person Tuesday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 5435 Highland Rd. And read more about the new restaurant’s offerings in this story from 225 Daily.