Gabrielle: Is It Worth It?

Grilled drum with Rockefeller dressing, fried oysters, and lemon beurre blanc at Gabrielle.

 

If Ned Stark were to glance through an ancestral book detailing a particular branch of cooking in New Orleans, it might sound something like this: "Paul Prudhomme, familiar ingredients, well-developed techniques, bold flavors, sensible combinations that evoke a sense of place...Frank Brigtsen, familiar ingredients, well-developed techniques, bold flavors, sensible combinations that evoke a sense of place...Greg Sonnier, familiar ingredients, well-developed techniques, bold flavors, sensible combinations that evoke a sense of place."

Greg and Mary Sonnier both came up working for Paul Prudhomme in the Hall and Oates visited kitchen at K-Pau's. Greg went on to help open Brigtsen's, before the husband and wife teamed up to open Gabrielle. For years, Gabrielle was a successful, well-lauded restaurant on Esplanade Ave. just a few steps from the Fair Grounds. The food at Gabrielle always displayed some of the hallmarks of both Paul and Frank's cooking, but with a distinctly French twist. Gabrielle racked up awards, honors, and pedigrees. Cue the federal flood and the Sonniers purchase of the Uptowner on Henry Clay. What has followed is a continuous dispute about just what the Sonniers bought. It has been a dispute the Lannisters and Starks would find absurd.

But no worries, Gabrielle is back at the Uptowner. Just follow this simple rule. The only rule of Gabrielle is it is not a restaurant. Got that? You are going to eat a reception hall so reservations must be made prior to sitting down. You will need to contract with the Uptowner to rent a table for your party. Be it a table for one or one hundred. When in doubt, remember the rule of Gabrielle.

Once all that is done, you can get down to eating. First to arrive at our table was a bowl of gumbo which is belongs more to the barbecue world than Acadiana. A smoky chicken carcass, and often a smoked stock, create a broth with the viscosity and complexity of a barbecue sauce. Close your eyes as you take a bite of the rich potion and you might just find yourself dreaming of outdoor cookouts and platters piled high with juicy BBQ chicken and crispy links of sausage. 

The boudandouille is a play on sausage en croute with the two most popular sausages of Southwest Louisiana stuffed into a pastry shell. Served with a lavender laced mustard and caramelized onions, the dish failed to assert any one true identity. A much better use of your appetite is with an order of the Oysters Gabie. Traditional baked oysters get a welcome upgrade from a lemony artichoke base. A crispy topping of bread crumbs creates a succulent cocoon for the oysters just to warm up to the idea of being eaten. 

Imagine yourself at a duck camp. It is late at night, perhaps the second bottle of bourbon has been breached. People are getting hungry, stories being swamped. Wandering into the kitchen you may find the detritus of some leftover roasted duck, some duck skin, and gravy. In the freezer are some fries. You put two and two together and end up with take on debris fries. Gabrielle elevates that idea with rich duck, crispy duck skin, shoestring, hand cut fries, mushrooms and an orange jolted jus with incredible results.

Or you could go with the plank of drum lightly blackened and served atop an Herbsaint laced spinach dressing. Riding shotgun is a plate of fried oysters. It will become hard to tell where Oysters Rockefeller ends and Blackened Redfish begins. There in all its glorious history is reference to two of the iconic dishes of New Orleans's restaurants. Dishes that went all the way around the world, and yet settle here, harmoniously. But eat the oysters tout suite lest they wilt. 

Polish all of this off with a bottle of Cotes du Rhone and a heaping dessert of berries and tender shortcake gilded with a creamy, vanilla topping. On the way out, popping your had into the kitchen will reveal Greg working as expediter, saute, grill, and fry cook. He will be moving furiously but smiling at the opportunity to once again cook his food for people. That sight alone is worth the trip.

Gabrielle: Is It Worth It? Absolutely.

438 Henry Clay Avenue

Dinner is served Thursday - Saturday. Call 899-6500 for a reservation.

The Goal of a Restaurant

Dinners at Brigtsen's have often been compared to dining at grandmother's house, for a number of reasons. First, the building that houses Brigtsen's was likely at one point someone's grandmother's house.  Secondly, the service staff is auntly and kind, a far cry and improvement over the recent trend in service. As you may have noticed, some servers are now cooler than you. You, the guest, with your non-gelled hair and lack of visible tattoos celebrating the turnip are simply another square. A square who would never understand the chef's vision of combining Nietzsche's teachings with his take on a Caesar salad.

Not so at Brigtsen's. Where you are first taken under the wing of Frank's wife, Marna, who will guide you to your table and take a drink order. She is happy to see you and you her. From here until you leave you are under the watchful and caring eye of people who are understand the concept of service and hospitality. It is a welcome and restorative feeling, be it at grandmother's or Brigtsen's.

Sazerac in hand, next comes hot loaves of French bread and cold, spreadable butter. A menu that hasn't changed much in years showcases the bounty of the biology of this fair region. There is duck, oysters, shrimp, crab, fish, and pork in various incarnations. It is best to start with thick slabs of duck and pistachio pate sliced and stacked in between crisp rounds of crouton. Alongside are the traditional accouterments, but do not miss the red onion marmalade. A bottle of J Rose, does admirably in a pinch, here and with the next course.

A muddy brown bowl of rabbit and andouille and gumbo arrives, the roux piercing through the stock with it's just on the uncooked side of burned sharpness. The gumbo is chock full of tender rabbit and fiery andouille and crowned by a tangle of white rice. The gumbo showcases the braun and masculinity of the cooking at Brigtsen's; food made to pair with duck camps and Bourbon fueled storytelling. The butternut and shrimp bisque is the opposite end of that spectrum. A sublime, feminine soup, equally as delicious, built for midday refuels in between shopping stops.

It would do you good to switch to a wine with some grit and heft. The E. Guigal Gigondas is a perfect wine for the entrees to come. For me, that happened to be a thick pork chop served with not only with whipped sweet potatoes, but dirty rice, greens, and pork debris jus. The plating will remind you of Thanksgiving and piling as many things onto your plate as possible. It is a beautiful and all too seldom way of eating. One qualm though, that pork debris sauce needs half the salt and twice the pork debris.

Lindsay's entree was equally festive. Brigtsen's famed Shell Beach Diet culls six different seafoods - scallops, oysters, drum, shrimp - with different sauces and preparations. The result is a happy mess of six courses on a plate. A great choice for the dining companion who can never make up their mind as to what to order. "I should have held back on appetizers, and just ordered this for my whole meal. I would have had the scallop first, then the shrimp corn bread, or maybe the oyster Bienville first. I don't know I can't decide," Lindsay said.

Attention would be restaurant owners. Before you open your mold breaking, never been seen before restaurant, take a trip to Brigtsen's. Notice that feeling of relaxation and contentment at the end of the meal. That is the ultimate goal of a restaurant. And one that Brigtsen's performs better than anyone else in the city.

Brigtsen's -Eagle.
Dinner Tuesday-Saturday
723 Dante Street
504-861-7610

Cooking with Wine

Can't stop cooking pork. Won't stop cooking pork. This week's mashup with Mad Max paired simple smoked ribs with the knockout good 2009 Headbanger Zinfandel made by Paul Hoffman. Hoffman, that guy above standing next to the con artist formerly known as Bloggle, makes a variety of wines that are approachable, affordable quaffers. This deep, dark, and delicious zin has lots of juicy acidity. Aromas of fresh baked berry pie, rose petals, and cinnamon give way to cherry cola, cedar, and cocoa.  It sells for under $20 (a steal since you asked me) and you can find it at Mondo, Brigtsen's, Ruffino, Theo's, and Whole Foods.

Zinfandel naturally sets off an alarm for pasta all' Amatriciana. That rich, smoky, bacony, spicy sauce that is marinara's hotter cousin that you got to second base with on that one summer night. Or at least that you told your friends you did. But we are trying to cut back on carbs on the home front so the next most logical thing was barbecue ribs. Not only did it work, it did what wine and food pairings are supposed to do, namely compliment each other. The spice and smoke from the ribs was matched by the heft and acidity of the wine. Coincidentally, in that photo Hoffman is holding a bottle of said wine. #1 wine related commentator Meghan ought to be stoked.

Headbanging Baby Back Ribs

1 Rack of Baby Back Ribs
Rub of your choice but the one I make has lots of spicy, smoked Hungarian paprika, dried lemon peel, salt, brown sugar, oregano, cayenne, garlic and onion powder.
Smoke
Time

Remove the insane in the membrane from the back of the baby backs. Sprinkle rub liberally over both sides of ribs and massage it into the meat. Let sit at room temperature for an hour or so. Meanwhile get a smoker or charcoal grill ready. I like to smoke at 250 degrees for about two hours. You can use whatever wood you like, but I find pecan to be the proverbial bomb, as the kids used to say.

After two hours, place rack on foil, douse with apple juice or even apple cider vinegar, and wrap in foil. Back on the grill for another hour. If you have some of that bbq sauce from last week's rambling post, use it. But you won't need much.

Short Order Review: Brigtsen's and Dine Out Tonight

Frank Brigtsen can cook. Brigtsen's cooking is not the refined technicality of Le Foret or the whimiscal creationism of Stella! You won't find any dishes celebrating the simplicity of a fig or crowned with a micro green emulsion. Brigtsen's cooking is a textbook example of what was haute cuisine fifteen years ago. I had originally held that against him and as a result never visited until two weeks ago. Boy, was that a mistake.

What I found was that the food coming out of his kitchen is some of the best in New Orleans. Brigtsen's cooking reaffirmed that dining out is supposed to be fun, enjoyable, and above all else, an experience. Where other restaurants may dial back the flavor or remove a component, Brigtsen adds to a dish.

Witness his shrimp remoulade with its perfectly poached shrimp resting on top of spice laden cold corn relish. A creamy and well-seasoned guacamole ties the the two elements together. And just to gild the lily, 5 deviled eggs ring the plate. A chef in a newer restaurant would have chopped that dish into 4 or more separate "tapas." At Brigtsen's it all gets served together and with a splendid result.

This is lusty, full on cooking with nothing held back. His sweetbreads, rich as they are, join forces with a leek and potato cake before being crowned with mushrooms. The accompanying sauce zings with enough acidity and complexity to make you hoard the plate. Or try the veal with its crisp crust loaded with spices and (more importantly) salt. It is served alongside grits laced with fontina cheese and an osso bucco sauce. I can't wait to come back here on a cold January night and eat heartily.

The tuna dish is a journey through the Caribbean, of which New Orleans is the crown jewel. Tuna pulled from the Gulf of Mexico is blackened in a nod to Brigtsen's mentor Paul Prudhomme and gets just rewards with a smoked corn sauce, red bean salsa, and fiery, pepper laced sour cream. It's cooking like this that makes sushi look lazy.

When you walk into the Brigtsen's cottage in the Riverbend, you immediately sense that you are dining at a friend's house. That friend removed all the furniture and crammed tables into every nook and cranny while employing every cook and nanny in the household to serve as staff. Drinks and wine arrive quickly; as do the fresh loaves of french bread. Service is relaxed but maybe a little informal given the price points. For instance, both with our appetizers and entrees, Lindsay's dish arrived about five minutes prior to mine. But with food this good, a bottle of Robert Foley Charbono, and a vibe this comforting, who cares?

Preliminary Assessment Only

Brigtsen's-Birdie on the Fine Dining 18th.

Dining Out For Life, Tonight

It's Thursday. For us, its pay day (for real jobs not this fake ass non-paying gig). You don't feel like cooking, do you? Besides no reason to make the temperature inside your house match that of the exterior. So go eat out tonight and support the NO/Aids Task Force. All you have to do is dine at one of the over 60 restaurants participating, and they will donate 25% of your check to the NO/Aids Task Force. For more info and a list of participating restaurants check out their website.