Eating New Orleans

Alan and I just returned from a week in New Orleans and, to make up for our dining excesses there, we should be nibbling saltine crackers and sipping water until football season. Other than New York, I don’t think there is a city in America more adept at providing over-the-top dining out experiences. And we took full advantage.

We were there — along with 5,000 other people — for the National Urban League conference. More on that in a later post. This post is about restaurants. New ones we discovered, favorite ones that have stood up well, and other former favorites that we think have slipped. One warning, though: Don’t read this if you are hungry!

We’d love to hear about your New Orleans restaurant opinions in the comment section. Because we definitely plan to go back soon.

Bayona

We love this Susan Spicer restaurant so much that it was the first reservation we made when we started planning our trip. Our first visit to Bayona was this past May when we were in New Orleans for another conference (Side note: Can’t Knoxville just hire whomever is doing such a bang-up job attracting visitors to New Orleans?). As soon as we checked into the Hyatt, we grabbed our friends Phyllis Nichols, the CEO of the Knoxville Area Urban League, and Warren Logan, the CEO of the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, and headed to 430 Dauphine Street in the French Quarter.

I think the best thing about Bayona is that, although they have their standard seafood and French-influenced Louisiana fare permanently on the menu, they have an entire section that changes based almost entirely on what fresh local ingredients are available. My scallop dish was an example of that. So was the velvety potato leek soup we had as an opener. Our verdict: Bayona remains one of our favorites and will stay on our “must eat there” list. We also love the look of Bayona and recommend a drink in its cute but tiny little bar prior to dinner.

Borgne

Owned by celebrity chef John Besh, Borgne is located in the Hyatt, where we stayed for the conference. We had lunch there and found it delightful. The restaurant focuses on coastal Louisiana cuisine and the menu — like the decor — revolves around seafood.

We split a sorbet trio so we both could taste a variety. We had mango pineapple, cherry lemon, and sweetened condensed milk (how Southern is that?). Our verdict: we liked Borgne and would recommend it for lunch if you are staying in the area. But it’s probably not a destination in itself.

Galatoire’s

Galatoire’s definitely IS a destination restaurant. And the waiters, with their strong personalities and longevity, are traditionally asked for by name. Thanks to our Knoxville friends Madge Cleveland and her brother, George Ed Wilson, we knew exactly whom to request: John Fontenot.

Galatoire’s opened in 1905 serving authentic French Creole cuisine and many of its dishes are the same today as they were back then: shrimp remoulade, oysters Rockefeller, poisson meuniere amandine. This tradition makes Galatoire’s one of the most popular of New Orleans’ old-line restaurants. But it also makes it nearly impossible for Galatoire’s to change and update its menu. But that’s OK by me. (Side note: It reminded me of Knoxville’s Regas Restaurant, one of our long-time favorites. The Regas tradition was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you loved the consistency and quality of its heritage menu. But whenever the owners tried to modernize to capture a newer, younger, hipper clientele, they invariably failed.)

John Fontenot has been a waiter at Galatoire’s for 45 years. His personality takes over the dining experience in a way that makes you feel as if you’ve known him practically that long. He tells stories and jokes. He offers suggestions. His most popular advice on the night of our visit: order the redfish. (And Alan did, to Alan’s delight!)

The verdict? We love Galatoire’s and will keep it on our must-eat-there list and we highly recommend it. But don’t expect cutting edge food. Order the classics and get a table in the first floor dining room. They don’t take reservations for the first floor, but that’s part of the charm.

Zea

This restaurant was highly recommended to us by the proprietor of a downtown Knoxville eatery so we confidently led our party of six to 1525 St. Charles Avenue. I wish we hadn’t. Maybe it was because we were sort of late getting there (9:30-ish), but the hostess was lackadaisical, many tables were dirty, and, although the place was more than half empty, the wait was inexplicably long.

Zea‘s slogan is “Inspired American Food,” but it really wasn’t very inspired. The ribs, which several folks ordered, were nowhere near falling off the bone and they were nowhere near as good as most we have had in Knoxville. I think my dinner was the best: Casablanca chicken, which was a generous serving of grilled chicken breast served over hummus (not the first ingredient the words “American food” call to mind, but . . ) and topped with black olives, feta cheese and green onions. I may try making that at home.

Our advice: don’t waste your money, time and calories going to Zea.

Tamarind

Tamarind is a small and elegant restaurant located in the Hotel Modern, 936 St. Charles Avenue, on Lee Circle. The cuisine is Vietnamese as influenced by French Colonialism. Alan and I ate lunch there when we were on our way to the nearby Ogden Museum of Southern Art. We found the food to be creative and prepared with a great attention to detail. And the dishes generally were quite light, which is what we needed after a few days eating at traditional New Orleans spots.

We recommend Tamarind for lunch. It’s also very close to the World War II Museum.

Willie Mae’s Scotch House

Where do I begin to tell you about Willie Mae’s? It was recommended to us by some friends who have lived in the region and are well-versed in New Orleans eating establishments. We decided to try it for lunch one day. So we grabbed a cab and gave the driver the address: 2401 St. Ann Street. I was scrolling around on my iPad and not really paying attention to where we were going when Alan asked, “Do you feel comfortable in this neighborhood?” I looked up and, let’s be honest, we were in a very sketchy area of town. Pretty near Treme, which is on the news all the time due to crime.

It was raining when the cab dropped us off. And about a dozen folks were standing in line outside the restaurant getting soaked. Willie Mae’s does not take reservations and there’s no place to wait inside. We got at the end of the line.

It didn’t take long to get in — maybe 20 minutes. We were taken to a back dining room and instructed to sit in wooden chairs lined against the wall for another 10-minute wait. I took the time to peruse the short menu and noted that this was not going to be the kind of place to fall all over itself catering to customers’ every whim. “Absolutely no separate checks!” it warned. “No refills,” it said beside the tea listing. “$3 extra for sharing a plate,” it asserted. When a woman signaled for us to follow, I discovered the floor was so greasy that I nearly slipped — twice. We were taken to a table in a side room beside the trash can and the station where dirty dishes were piled.

I took some heart when I saw the framed 2006 James Beard Award on the wall. We were here for what Willie Mae’s is famous for — “the best fried chicken in America.” When we ordered fried chicken (extra charge for white meat), the waiter said matter-of-factly, “Of course.” He might as well have said, “Duh!” We also ordered green beans, French fries, butter beans, a house salad and corn muffins. Along with the no-refill tea.

So, here’s the deal. The fried chicken was good. Alan says it was not as good as his mother’s, though. (Interestingly, she also was named Willie Mae!) Surprisingly, the corn muffins were sweet — Yankee corn muffins. But the butter beans were (I hate to use this expression considering the circumstances) TO DIE FOR! If I lived in New Orleans, I’d go to Willie Mae’s just for those butter beans.

When it came time to leave, Alan asked the waiter to call us a cab. “I’ll call you a cab,” he replied. “But if you step outside and you see a cab pull up, my advice is to GET IN IT.” A little nervously, we stepped outside. At least it had stopped raining. But there were all kinds of working-age men milling around outside in the middle of the day, shouting at each other, darting their eyes at the folks entering and exiting the restaurant. Two young teenagers drove by on bicycles and made machine gun noises when they passed us. (Thanks for that, guys.) Thankfully, within a few minutes a cab drove up to drop off a passenger. We almost didn’t let the poor woman out of the car before diving in. “Take us to the Hyatt,” I said. His first words? “Who told you to come to this neighborhood??”

Our recommendation: If you are not faint of heart, go to this famous lunch-only dive. Have at least four people in your group. Order the butter beans.

NOLA

We previously have been to all three of Emeril Lagasse‘s restaurants in New Orleans — Emeril’s, Delmonico’s and NOLA — and have had very memorable food and a good time at each of them. But we picked NOLA, 534 St. Louis Street, to return to during this visit and we brought three friends, one of whom was having a birthday.

I hate to say it, but NOLA has slipped since our last visit several years ago. The food was good, but not great. The service was good, but not great. And it was so incredibly loud that we were exhausted from just trying to have a conversation over dinner.

To sum it up: I don’t want to trash NOLA. It was good. You probably will like it. Maybe my expectations were too high. I might recommend going to one of Emeril’s other restaurants instead, though. Just saying.

Cafe Du Monde

Of course you are going to go to Cafe Du Monde. No matter if you are not hungry. No matter if you already have had dessert. They only serve two main things there: coffee with chicory, and beignets — fried square French donuts. It’s located in the French Market and it’s open 24 hours, seven days a week. So you have no excuse not to go. (They only close on Christmas Day and if a hurricane gets too close to New Orleans.)

The Palace Cafe

We really like Dickie Brennan’s lively Palace Cafe, located at 605 Canal Street. We went there in May and loved its famous “taste of New Orleans” menu. This trip, though, we only had time to drop by for an appetizer and glass of wine. We sat at the bar and shared a cup of gumbo and spicy crab claws Bordelaise.

We recommend you drop by the Palace Cafe for a drink and a bite. The atmosphere downstairs is wonderful. At some times of year, it might be fun to sit at a table on the sidewalk, but at the end of July, it was just too darn hot.

Commander’s Palace

Jazz brunch at Commander’s Palace is one of those bucket list experiences if you haven’t already done it. We’ve done it — and we intend to do it again as often as possible. To be honest, it is just flat impossible to be unhappy when you are at Commander’s for jazz brunch. Commander’s is located at 1403 Washington Avenue in the heart of the historic Garden District.

The food is classic, of course. The service is impeccable. But it’s the roving jazz musicians who play at every table that make the experience unforgettable.

At Commander’s jazz brunch, you get three courses. I adored my first course, the oyster and absinthe “dome.” Here’s the description on the menu. Warning: I think you will gain weight just by reading it! “Poached briny Gulf oysters with bacon, artichokes, tarragon, cream and a splash of Parisian absinthe presented under a flaky pastry shell.”

Dessert was bread pudding souffle with warm whiskey sauce. The waiter takes a spoon and smashes through the crust in order to pour in the warm whiskey sauce right in front of your eyes. It is a sight to behold. My friend Madge says she always stops the waiter right before he does this and tells him, “You are about to give me the best gift since Christmas!”

Commander’s Palace has not slipped at all. You simply must go there for jazz brunch when you are in New Orleans.

Well, there you have it. Our New Orleans food experience. Except for one. Even better than all the good ones I’ve listed here was a visit to what is now our new favorite New Orleans restaurant. I’m saving it for a blog post all its own coming up later in the week.

Since we are probably going to make a trip to New Orleans an annual affair (like Madge and her brother George Ed do), please post here any tips or insights you have about food experiences in “the city that care forgot.”