Reflections on a Weekend in New Orleans

I never really understood the allure of dining in New Orleans. Not that I have eaten badly there – it’s just that the city’s reputation as a culinary center always seemed disproportionate to what one finds on their plate. In fact, one of the things that I found when I began trying to attract people to rate restaurants for the OA Dining Survey was how difficult it was to find people to rate the restaurants in the city . But if you take a cold hard look at the city’s restaurant scene you can understand why. Despite a population of 300,000, as well as being one of the top tourist destinations in the country, the city is sorely lacking in restaurants that feature fine dining. Still, if asked, many people will name New Orleans as one of their favorite places to eat in the country.

It was against that backdrop that Mrs. P and I decided to spend a long weekend in the city. I think that was the fifth time I have visited over the past 30 years – the last time being six years ago. Here is what I found. Eating in New Orleans is like eating in Nice or Lyon. The market based cuisine revolves around ingredients that are locally raised and feature recipes that are unique to the region. But the experience is more akin to eating at a Lyonaisse bouchon or a bistro in the old town of Nice, than it is to a fine dining experience. In fact I think the key to enjoying yourself in the city is to forget about seeking out fine dining. In my opinion, you will eat better at the traditional places than you will at the places that try and make the local cuisine fancier. Anyway, here are a few of the dishes that we found enjoyed and are worth reporting on.

87 year old Leah Chase and her 88 year old husband Dooky might have become famous when they attracted national media attention when they were living in a FEMA trailer across the street from their restaurant in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but her fried chicken is so good that it merits the same level of attention as their domestic plight. Mrs P described it as “crisp, moist, plump, greaseless and entirely delicious" and though I just nibbled at the edges because of my gluten intolerance, I have to say that I agree. My shrimp Clemenceau was good, but nowhere as majestic as that fried chicken. Dinner at August was, well, meh. The room is lovely but the food lacked zip to it. But one dish that was delicious was this simple salad of fall vegetables that was John Besh’s take on Michel Bras’s gargouiliou.. Lunch at Casamento’s the next day was fun. We knocked back a dozen local oysters on the half shell while waiting on line for a table, and when we finally sat down we plowed through a bowl of oyster stew and a 1/2 of an oyster loaf as well as 1/2 of a shrimp loaf. Enjoyable but not as rewarding as I expected. As Mrs. P said, “it’s worth going back but I don’t have to." Dinner at Herbsaint was an improvement over August but not enough to make us sing the praises of fine dining in New Orleans. But my cassoulet of Kurabota pork belly was superb if a bit salty.

Even I am to surprised to be saying that our lunch at Galatoire’s was the best meal of the trip. I had never been before and most people warned me that the food that was mediocre at best. But my grilled pompano topped with lump crab meuniere was superb. The quality of the fish was particularly high, it was perfectly cooked, and the concept of topping a whole grilled fish with lump crab meat that was sauteed in brown butter was one of those culinary quirks that I found irresistible. A chef friend of mine sang the praises of Stella!, claiming Scott Boswell’s food was the most refined in the city. And while I have to agree that it was the most refined meal on our trip, it still suffered from what I will describe as “fancy-itis" with the best dishes at the table being a spicy heirloom tomato soup that was topped with crab meat and a soft scrambled egg that was spiked with lobster and white truffles.

We actually played a triple header for lunch the next day. We began the festivities with a half dozen grilled oysters at Drago. Topped with butter and parmesian cheese which we enhanced with some Louisiana hot sauce, they were a delight and something I am going to try and make at home. Then off to Cochon which has gotten a reputation as sort of being the Momofuku of New Orleans. Well it was fine but to be honest, not that impressive. But I did like my oyster roast, a take on Drago’s grilled oysters but with a topping of an anchovy, red pepper butter. But more enjoyable than Cochon itself was Cochon Butcher which is right next door. Mostly a sandwich place, the homemade boudin was superb. In fact it was so good that it inspired Mrs. P and I to talk about planning a trip to the boudin trail in Cajun country. Our final meal was dinner at Clancy’s. Way uptown and in a quiet residential neighborhood, I immediately understood why its referred to as a “poor man’s Galatoire’s." While merely a simple neighborhood restaurant, it is staffed by waiters in tuxedos and the hand written menu is loaded with Creole classics. Given our success at Galatoire’s a day earlier, we stick with fish. Mrs. P with trout and I had the grilled baby Drum topped with a slice of gravlaxed salmon and a Dijon mustard and caper sauce.

On reflection, I can say the following about New Orleans and its dining scene. And let me preface my statements by saying that by no means am I an expert on the topic of the city’s cuisine. If you like eating at bistros in France or tratorrias in Italy, you will probably enjoy dining in New Orleans. But like I often find with regional European dining, when the restaurants try to make the local cuisine fancier, it loses its soul more often than not. Still, I enjoyed my time there and I enjoyed the eating. As will you if you set your level of expectations accordingly. The other issue that comes up constantly is the level of artisanality one finds in the ingredients. Let;s put it this way: I have visited numerous oyster houses on both the east and west coasts and in some instances they offer two to three dozen different types of oysters. Yet I don’t think I have ever seen any of them offer Gulf oysters. Fish from the Gulf, like pompano, grouper, shrimp and crab, sure. Which is why the fish we ate was so enjoyable. But not oysters and the reason that Casamento’s is able to serve a dozen oysters on the half shell for $9 is the lack of demand for the product in the rest of the country.

The example of the oysters can be transferred to many of the ingredients you will be served in New Orleans. The quality is high when compared to what you find in 99% of the cities in the U.S., but its not as high as what you find in the top restaurants in the country who are paying huge Fedex charges in order to have ingredients shipped in from every corner of the country. Which is why I compared the restaurants to the ones in cities like Lyon. The quality of the veal chop that they serve you in a Lyonaisse bouchon is higher than what you find in most places in France, but it can’t compete with what Michel Troisgros will serve you a mere 60 miies away. That’s because the bouchon is simply using the best of the local market, while Troisgros has a farmer raising custom veal for him.

11/05/2009 | Comments (1) | New Orleans, Leah Chase, Scott Boswell, John Besh, Donald Link