Gio's Villa Vanchere will close its popular Italian restaurant on East Causeway Approach in Mandeville at the end of May and reopen in the North Shore city's historic district a few weeks later. Giovanni "Gio" Vancheri, owner and executive chef, said he has purchased the building that formerly housed the Opal Basil restaurant near the Mandeville Trailhead and plans to open there on June 17.

Opal Basil served its last meal at the location on April 29. The restaurant will move to a building on the corner of South Peters and Girod streets in the Warehouse District of New Orleans this summer. Its owners will also open Briquette, which will serve contemporary coastal cuisine, two doors down from the new Opal Basil.