Jaques-imo's is definitely NOT open. I was next door at the Maple Leaf on Friday. There's no power in that part of town yet - but that didn't stop the music at The Leaf - the owner brought in generators & we had ourselves a party.

And I must admit that I would take serious issue with toptenmen's assertion, despite the fact that he must be very knowledgeable, having "eaten all over New Orleans"and everything, that Jaques-imo's is the best place in town. It's not even close, in any price range, and had been in a serious quality slide for months before Katrina, due to several factors which I don't want to get into now.

I did spend some time over the weekend with the chef/owner at Clancy's, who told me that they were able to save their $750K wine collection by sneaking into the restaurant from the North Shore every 3 days to refuel their generator. By his estimate, they are still about 3 weeks away from reopening, which may be a bit optomistic. Most of the restaurant people I talked to are saying November. And that's in the places that didn't flood.

RIP Austin, you will be missed.

ChiNOLA wrote:There's no power in that part of town yet - but that didn't stop the music at The Leaf - the owner brought in generators & we had ourselves a party.

I saw a little bit of this on the news over the weekend. It was great to see!

stevez wrote:

ChiNOLA wrote:There's no power in that part of town yet - but that didn't stop the music at The Leaf - the owner brought in generators & we had ourselves a party.

I saw a little bit of this on the news over the weekend. It was great to see!

To be honest, it was a tiny bright spot in a vast sea of nastiness. Returning residents are dumping entire refrigerators filled with rotting food out in the street, which makes the whole place smell like dead bodies. The stench was so overwhelming that I nearly vomited several times. Took a drive through some of the areas that had been flooded & that was even worse.

New Orleans is in really bad shape right now, and it is going to take a LONG time before she's back on her feet again. A couple hours of partying here & there can ease the burden to some degree, but it sure doesn't change the reality of the situation very much.

An update from my trip back down last weekend - Things are starting to look up!

Most of the grocery stores in Uptown are now open, including Whole Foods, and many businesses are also starting to open, albeit with reduced hours.

We had a very good Italian meal at Vincent's on St. Charles Ave. on Wednesday night, even though it was served on paper plates w/ plastic utensils - this due more to a lack of dishwashers than to any problems with the water.

Thursday was Herbsaint. The Pork Belly with lentils was outstanding. No paper plates here! There were even some tourists dining at the table next to ours.

Clancy's is supposed to open today per their chef, and most of the other relatively undamaged places I have heard about are talking November 1.

Overall, a vast improvement over my last trip a scant 10 days earlier. They are picking up the refrigerators as fast as they can, which is making a marked improvement in the smell of the city. There's still a long way to go, but the city is starting to show some signs of life again.

Vital Information wrote:One place that I love, but have been hesitant to recommend is Mosca's WAY out of town on US 90. I've heard mixed things about it of late, and I have last been there in 94, but it is still a place I hold in my heart.

Just got word that Mosca's (pronounced MOE-sca's) reopened today after suffering heavy damage from Hurricane Katrina. I called them up just to make sure & it's true - they are now open, back to regular hours - Dinner Tue- Sat, but they only take reservations Tue- Fri, Sat is first come first served.

I'm heading down next weekend & will definitely be dining at this New Orleans classic. I'll be sure to report back.

I just wanted to let you know that the Camellia Grill is finally reopening. :)

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatc ... mellia.php

Also, I'll be in NOLA the end of March in case anyone would like me to check the status of anything.

Bloops wrote:I just wanted to let you know that the Camellia Grill is finally reopening.

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatc ... mellia.php

Also, I'll be in NOLA the end of March in case anyone would like me to check the status of anything.

Nothing specific, but I'm looking at going down for JazzFest this year, so any reports are welcome!

Here is a whole thread about Post-Katrina New Orleans:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... ht=orleans

I love New Orleans the way I love London, which is to say, I long ago stopped worrying about trying to pick the "right" places to go to, realized I could go again and again if I really wanted to, and decided to mix my old favorites with new finds every time I was lucky enough to be able to go there.

I say this because, this thread having been revived by recent posts, I have to disagree with others who've put down Emeril's. A friend and I went once for lunch, sat at the bar where we could look into the kitchen and talk to the cooks as they worked, and had a wonderful time. It was a memorable experience, and it's been, let's see ... more than five years now.

Katie wrote:I say this because, this thread having been revived by recent posts, I have to disagree with others who've put down Emeril's. A friend and I went once for lunch, sat at the bar where we could look into the kitchen and talk to the cooks as they worked, and had a wonderful time. It was a memorable experience, and it's been, let's see ... more than five years now.

I've been to the original Emeril's several times. The first time was when Emeril still actually worked in the restaurant and our meal was excellent, the service was great, and we received a lot of individual attention by our servers, the sommelier and even Emeril himself. As the years have gone by and Emeril has become a cartoon rather than a chef any longer, the food has changed (and not for the better). The last time I went, which was pre-Katrina, it was more like an attraction at Disneyworld, where the staff was working from a script and was intent on rushing you through your meal in order to keep the line moving, so to speak. Hold on to your memories, Katie. Sadly, it ain't like that anymore.

stevez wrote:

Katie wrote:I say this because, this thread having been revived by recent posts, I have to disagree with others who've put down Emeril's. A friend and I went once for lunch, sat at the bar where we could look into the kitchen and talk to the cooks as they worked, and had a wonderful time. It was a memorable experience, and it's been, let's see ... more than five years now.

I've been to the original Emeril's several times. The first time was when Emeril still actually worked in the restaurant and our meal was excellent, the service was great, and we received a lot of individual attention by our servers, the sommelier and even Emeril himself. As the years have gone by and Emeril has become a cartoon rather than a chef any longer, the food has changed (and not for the better). The last time I went, which was pre-Katrina, it was more like an attraction at Disneyworld, where the staff was working from a script and was intent on rushing you through your meal in order to keep the line moving, so to speak. Hold on to your memories, Katie. Sadly, it ain't like that anymore.

Steve, as they say in New Orleans, "Yeah you right!" I'm quite certain that I have eaten my last meal at Emeril's, no matter who's paying for it. There are SO many better places to dine there for half the money, Mosca's among them.

I just realized that I forgot to post a follow up report on my last meal at Mosca's, which has finally re-opened post-Katrina. The only real difference I noticed inside was that the the walls had been painted a different color. The food was excellent as always. Put in the effort to find Mosca's & take the trip out to the West Bank rather than wasting your money (and, more importantly IMHO, an opportunity to have a really good New Orleans meal) at Emeril's.

FYI - I was at the Fried Chicken Dinner at West Town Tavern last night hosted by John T. Edge, who announced that Willa Mae's Scotch House will re-open in the coming weeks. It took over $200K in raised funds as well as many people who volunteered their weekends to rebuild it. Hurray!

aschie30 wrote:FYI - I was at the Fried Chicken Dinner at West Town Tavern last night hosted by John T. Edge, who announced that Willa Mae's Scotch House will re-open in the coming weeks. It took over $200K in raised funds as well as many people who volunteered their weekends to rebuild it. Hurray!

I heard this announcement, too. But can you tell me what the name of the other restaurant was -- the one not far from the Scotch House, and also in the Treme area -- that Edge mentioned?

If what West Town Tavern was calling "Scotch House Fried Chicken" wasn't as good as her Mrs. Seton's recipe, then I think the real thing might be too deliciious for mortal tastebuds to bear. And if there's a similarly good place in within blocks of the Scotch House, then I think that we may have located fried chicken heaven.
(by the way, I posted my report on the Fried Chicken Throwdown in the Events section, but I would love to hear what you have to say)

MariaTheresa wrote:I heard this announcement, too. But can you tell me what the name of the other restaurant was -- the one not far from the Scotch House, and also in the Treme area -- that Edge mentioned?

No, I don't. For some reason, I spaced out.

MariaTheresa wrote:If what West Town Tavern was calling "Scotch House Fried Chicken" wasn't as good as her Mrs. Seton's recipe, then I think the real thing might be too deliciious for mortal tastebuds to bear.

It was delicious, wasn't it?

stevez wrote:Hold on to your memories, Katie. Sadly, it ain't like that anymore.

Well, that is sad news for me, if true. I am saving my pennies for another trip to New Orleans. Being a fellow LTHer, I will give you the benefit of the doubt about speaking about the real quality of the experience of dining at Emeril's restaurant in New Orleans. I hope it isn't colored by anything else. I think Emeril gets an undeserved bad rap from some in the food world - Bourdain, for one, is particularly pissy about him. I personally would rather eat good food from someone with a good heart than supposedly slightly better food from a mean-spirited crabbyass.

But that's just me.

Katie wrote:I think Emeril gets an undeserved bad rap from some in the food world - Bourdain, for one, is particularly pissy about him.

Actually, Anthony Bourdain has pretty much retracted his anti-Emeril stance, or at least has moderated it a lot.

From a transcript of an online chat:

I still hate his show and will continue to say so. Emeril the man, however, I have come to know, deserves a lot more respect than I've given him. He's an accomplished chef and businessman in spite of what you see on TV. He has a sense of humor and given the current crop of talentless, cabbage patch kids, bobbleheads and dimwits on the Food Network, Emeril now looks like Escoffier by comparison.

Well, well, well. I must say I am pleasantly surprised by and impressed with Bourdain, more than I ever have been before, to learn he is big enough to take back some crabbyass things he's said in the past. That is, as best he can. I still give the nod to Emeril, just because I have never heard or heard of him saying a bad word about anyone else, which is more than you can say of -- well, a lot of people, including me.

I wish it were true, now during Lent more than ever, that I could be one of those people about whom other people say "he/she doesn't have a mean bone in his/her body." Alas, I fall short, every day, usually before noon. Still can't think of any time I've ever heard Emeril say anything bad about another chef, or any other person. I say, especially in the profession he is in, he deserves some credit for that.

I believe that Emeril's good friend Norm Van Aiken was very instrumental in convincing Bourdain to tone down his rhetoric where Emeril was concerned.

Whether you like Emeril or not, it is hard to name one person who has led the development of in home culinary awareness of middle America better than he has over the last 10 years.

Katie, having eaten at all of Emeril's New Orleans empire restaurants over the years, I highly recommend Nola for its uniqueness over the eponymous place.

This is a rather late post, but I'm leaving tomorrow to go to New Orleans for a long weekend with the in-laws. They are rather unadventurous, and my wife and I have only our evening of arrival exclusively to ourselves. We won't be at the hotel until around 11pm, which is just off the French Quarter. I'm looking for any suggestions for a late dinner, as it will be our first time in the city.

Thanks in advance.

Again, I wish I'd discovered LTHForum sooner so that I could put in my two cents about a topic and give what I hope are helpful suggestions.
At any rate, here are those two cents:

If you go to New Orleans, you must eat certain things, among which are the red beans and rice, beignets with chicory coffee, and of course the famous MUFFULETTA. It's been a clean 30 years since I first had the muffuletta at the Central Grocery Company on Decatur Street, where it was invented. I still remember how astonished I was at how delicious a thing could be! That gorgeous bread, so soft inside, and yet it had structure on the outside -- I do believe it's the air down there that makes the bread like that. The perfect meats and cheese, in just the right proportions. And of course what makes it all pull together, that olive salad spread. We ate a lotta food when we were down there, but that meal was one of the stand-outs. When you go to New Orleans, you need to stop in at Central Grocery and have yourself a meal you'll remember all your life long.

Heading back to New Orleans in a month. I say "back" because we were there in December, supposedly for a cousin's graduation party. (She didn't graduate. Therefore, no party.) We went to K-Paul's, because Commander's Palace had just reopened and was still getting itself together.

We had a marvelous, gut-busting time at K-Paul's, though. I'd heard that it had "gone commercial" and that Chef Prudhomme had retired his jolly girth and handed the reins over to a new exec chef. But we had a great experience all the same.

I started with Corn & Andouille Soup, which had a great balance of flavor and texture. (I forgot what my wife started with.) For main courses, I had a stuffed blackened pork chop, which was served with a twice-FRIED potato and bacony green beans on the side. My wife had a blackened beef filet with mashed potatoes on the side. Both were very good, if just this side of being too salty, and were very very filling. We'd looked forward to trying dessert, but we could barely breathe after the entrees, and dessert would have given us a pair of matching heart attacks!

Service was a little unresponsive, but the place was packed. All the same, I recommend the place. We're going to try for a Brennan restaurant this time around--hope I can get reservations!

K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen
416 Chartres St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 524-7394
http://www.kpauls.com/

Edit: If the online reservations site is correct, Commander's Palace is booked solid through June!

Yes, the muffaleta is fabuluous! And, good news, Central Grocery will mail you their famous olive salad. A friend of mine buys it by the case.

Yum.

Geo

Geo! Central Grocery's olive salad by the case??? I'm on it! Thanks!

Let us know! This was 4 yrs ago, but it worked then. *Should* work now.

Geo

Went to board favorite Dick & Jenny's last weekend for the first time since it changed hands. Luckily it was sold to a group of employees, and there has been no dropoff in quality as far as I can tell (in fact some of the regulars claim that the food is actually better now).

Had a very interesting and most delicious appetizer, the Escargot-boy: snails, bacon, and a smoked mushroom cream sauce served over a small piece of toasted french bread in a bowl. Fantastic. The waiter tried to clear the bowl & we wouldn't let him, instead demanding more bread so we could soak up every drop of sauce.

Dick & Jenny's most definitely retains its standing near the top of my list. I just wish they'd start taking reservations so I could eat there more often.

I had a wonderful time and ate some great food.

Tried Nardo's Trattoria for the first time (it was on my list of places to visit before the storms :P). The food was good and the flavors well-balanced. They hand-cut their calamari but the cornmeal breading they used completely overwhelmed the squid. They have ingenious clip-on wooden trays that match the bar so you can sit and eat at the bar if you ar so inclined. They were handmade by the bartender's father. :) It was a true NOLA experience complete with small lagniappe and unexpected kiss on the neck by Michael ?-The Unoffical May or New Orleans and well known neighborhood character.

Hahahahaahah, I finally made it to Mark Twain's Pizza Landing and got my picture taken (oh, and had a decent pizza for NOLA).

Ms. Hyster's is gone, Mama's Tasty Foods is gone, the chef/owner from Dunbar's is now working at Tulane :(, there are persistant rumors of the Blue Plate reopening but no evidence to be seen on-site--you have to love a restaurant that offers pork chops as a side item. I heard that the people behind Chicken Box ar going to reopen in a new location and out tha parish Rocky & Carlo's is supposed to be reopening somewhere.

Tommy's Cuisine is still great, Mimi's & The Joint are still going strong, Juan's Flying Burrito on Magazine is cleaner and has less surly staff-it is a little strange, Taqueria Corona on Magazine will always have a place in my heart-their vegetarian refried beans and fish tacos are unbelievable (I'll even forgive the divebomb roach attack--to which the owner replied "It's summer"), stopped by Parasol's, tried out the new gelateria next to Joey K's (had Tangipahoa Strawberry and Balsamic Vinegar), missed Crepe Nanou, Creole Creamery, Dick & Jenny's, Angelo Broccato's, Benachin, and a trip to one of the Pho Tau Bays.

All manner of magnificent items at Croissant D'or and frozen irish coffee at Molly's made for a wonderful trip to the Quarter.

I hope you all can visit soon-the cubanos they serve at the French Quarter Festival are great. Gotta go eat my steamed fish and vegetables-when you return from a trip to NOLA you always seem to be packin' more than when you left. ;)

Finally got around to dining at Cochon last night - it had been at the top of my list for a quite a while & I must say that I am VERY sorry I waited so long to try it.

Cochon is the latest project from Chef Donald Link (who also owns the very fine Herbsaint Restaurant). The focus is on "Cajun, Southern Cooking" - with a special emphasis on pigs (hence the name). They only purchase whole pigs (from Mississippi, we were told) and process them in their in house "Boucherie". The menu features their house-made Boudin, Andouille, and Smoked Bacon. Last night the Boucherie plate featured "Crispy Hog Jowls" which were every bit as good as they sound.

We had the wood-fired oyster roast (similar to BBQ Oysters at Drago's except that these were done in the oven instead of on the grill), grilled shrimp with chow-chow (a homemade relish made w/ banana peppers and cauliflower - really good), the aforementioned boucherie plate, head cheese w/ house-made mustard (outstanding), shrimp and deviled egg gumbo (the one thing that nobody was too enthused about), a spicy iceberg salad w/ buttermilk dressing, bacon & radishes (this was surprisingly good), Their signature louisiana cochon with turnips, cabbage, and cracklins (ripping!), smoked beef brisket w/ horseradish potato salad (also really good), oven-roasted snapper "fisherman style" (skin-on filet roasted w/ plenty of olive oil - fantastic) and a fried oyster & smoked bacon sandwich (excellent). For dessert, bread pudding and strawberry buttermilk ice cream.

This place is definitely in the same league as Brigtsen's, and coming from me, that's no faint praise. If you have even a slight fondness for porky goodness, this is the place for you.

It's no mystery to me why they have been nominated for two James Beard awards in '07 - Best Chef:South - Chef Link, and Best New Restaurant - Cochon co owned by Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski (who runs the Boucherie).

There's a lot of background info about the concept, bios, menu, etc. at their web site Here

Cochon Restaurant
930 Tchoupitoulas St.
New Orleans
504-588-2123

M-F 11a-10p
Sat 5-10 p.m.
Closed Sunday

funny- I'm eating there tomorrow- coming in for a week

I wrote about Cochon here and I highly, highly recommend it. I also ate at Herbsaint (his other restaurant) which I thought was okay, nothing special.

So a very very fast rundown of where we ate in NOLA outside of Jazzfest and some very unmemorable food:

In order of preference:

1. Herbsaint- absolutely incredible southern style cooking.
2. August- simply one of the best restaurants in the country (though while our meal was excellent this time we were just a touch more blown away by Herbsaint)
3. Cochon- the food was great but the service was painfully slow. Sat to dinner at 8 didn't get to leave until 11:15. I will spend much time dreaming of my rabbit and dumplings.
4. Luke- food was good, not great, service was so horrible the restaurant ended up comping our entire bill.