Malted milk chocolate mousse with malted creme anglaise. Yes, those are like the insides of malted milk balls crushed on top!
My husband, Alan Carmichael, says that if you select a restaurant in New Orleans and it has the word “saint” in it, it should be good!
Well, that certainly was the case when it came to the restaurant Herbsaint, located at 701 St. Charles Avenue. I simply must insist that you visit it when you are next in “The Big Easy.”
Until we dined at Herbsaint last week while we were in town for the National Urban League conference, our favorite New Orleans restaurants had been Bayona and Galatoire’s. And we still love those places. But if you asked us today to name our favorite Crescent City eatery, it would be without question Herbsaint.
The food is simply brilliant, as you will see from the photos here. Perfectly prepared, creative and satisfying, the dishes are delivered with impeccable but unassuming service in a spare room that resonates with the fun being had at the tables.
The cocktails, too, are special. Several of us had something called a watermelon calpirinha, which I thought was particularly refreshing on a sweltering and muggy New Orleans evening. My guess is that it contained watermelon, grapefruit juice and that special Brazilian alcohol that goes in traditional calpirinhas. But other choices were equally tempting: the Sazerac, of course; the Haitian daiquiri, the Streetcar and the plum gin fizz. Wish I could have tasted them all.
Herbsaint opened in 2000 and is owned by chef Donald Link, himself a product of New Orleans and San Francisco restaurants, a graduate of the American Culinary Institute in San Francisco and a James Beard Award winner. In my opinion, no trip to New Orleans would be complete without at least one meal at Herbsaint. I promise it will be unforgettable.
Even the gin and tonic at Herbsaint is delicious!
Alan started with a local brew.
Several of us started with the Louisiana jumbo lump crab with watermelon gazpacho. Our dinner companion, Chris Powell of Scripps who is a fellow Knoxville Urban League board member, had suggested it from his pre-dinner research.
Crystal Washington, vice president of external relations, diversity and inclusion at Scripps, whipped her Tide stick out of her purse when someone at the table had a little spill! I want to have her at all my meals!
Alan ordered fish of the day, in this case, triple tail, which was served on dirty rice. It was moist, flaky and mild.
Phyllis Nichols and I had this dinner special. It wasn't called pork stew, but a fancier word. It was a meltingly tender, super flavorful braised cut of pork served on crostini and topped with a farm fresh egg. Unbelievable.
Seared Louisiana shrimp with summer squash and chili oil got rave reviews.
Cheryl's boyfriend, Bill Brantley, ordered slow cooked lamb neck with saffron fideo and tomato confit. Fideo is a noodle. How often do you see lamb neck on a menu?
Rita Geier, another Knoxville Urban League board member, joined us at Herbsaint.
Chris Powell and Phyllis Nichols
Warm chocolate pudding cake with salted caramel, cashew ice cream and cocoa nib caramel corn. You can't begin to imagine how deeply chocolate this was!
Banana brown butter tart with fleur de sel caramel. Almost a sin.
There you have it. Our new favorite. Click here for a link to Herbsaint’s website. Click here for a review by Steven Hicks, who writes about New Orleans restaurants.
Wow. That all looks amazing and delicious. Field trip!
I’ve got to find a reason to return to New Orleans! This food looks amazing — and your friends do, too! Thanks for acquainting us with another fine place to dine!
We love Herbsaint and have been having great meals there ever since Donald Link and Susan Spicer opened the restaurant years ago. It’s a shame you missed his other great place. Cochon has become Leigh’s NO favorite…ask her about the ham hocks with lima beans!
The Butcher (next door) is great for sandwiches!
Hey, Gene: We read about Cochon in Steven Hicks’ blog. It is on our list for our next visit. We sure did have fun! Appreciate your great advice!
Gay and Rusha: Yum, yum! What a restaurant destination Herbsaint is. And all of New Orleans, really!
Cynthia: I love New Orleans but haven’t visited in a few years. Your blog posts are inspiring me to plan a trip – with a very specific dining plan!
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