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NATCHEZ — To the regular customers concerned about what’s changing for Biscuits and Blues, a restaurant that for nearly 30 years has been a dining favorite among both locals and tourists, new owners Rick and Ann Simmons say not to worry.

The Main Street restaurant will close for updates on Monday, Feb. 17, after Valentine’s Day weekend. However, Rick said their goal is to reopen the restaurant by April with some updates to the bar and a few additions to the menu while leaving everything that people have come to know and love about Biscuits and Blues the same, including the name, current menu items, and employees.

“As Peter would say, the place just needs a kick in the ass,” Rick said.

The new owners are no strangers to the Natchez restaurant scene. They currently run Planet Thailand and Slick Rick’s Café in the heart of downtown Natchez, and will soon add Biscuits and Blues as their third restaurant.

The Simonses have been a fixture in Natchez for over 20 years since Planet Thailand opened in 2002. Both Rick and Ann, a native of Thailand, share a love of cooking and of food.

Ann’s family runs restaurants all over, from Thailand to Berlin to England to the United States, she said.

“I just like food,” Ann said with a laugh. “I enjoy cooking and eating and running a business. Even our son Tiger has been baking and cooking and all that at the house. (Planet Thailand) is going to be passed forward to him later on.”

Rick started catering on the coast when he turned 21 and later when Hurricane Katrina hit moved to Natchez, he said. He was the executive chef at Monmouth before he opened up Slick Rick’s in August 2010.

When he and Ann heard talk of Peter and Lisa Trosclair wanting to retire from Biscuits and Blues, the couples started to talk.

“Three weeks later, here we are,” Rick said.

He added, “A lot of the things that people know and love about it will always be there. We did have some ideas with (the Trosclairs) for when we go in there,” Rick said. “It seems like the less we do with it the better. People like the way it is. It just needs that little freshness. Stuff like the drink menu just to freshen it up. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it type of thing.”

The restaurant business can be cutthroat, so Peter Trosclair’s offering help with the transition and sharing ideas is rare, Rick said.

“Working with (Peter Trosclair) has been easy. … He’s just the kind of guy that will literally help anybody,” Rick said. “Our goal is to be open another 30 years and just to continue all that Peter’s been doing, you know? … We’re still going to have music on Friday and Saturday night, so people can actually come in there and enjoy a good bar with some drinks and some different kinds of drinks and still have the music going.”