Dueling Bloggers: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Last Saturday while poking around the Farmer's Market, a devoted reader who is not related to either of us, asked, "You guys should debate restaurants that never change their menus." The reader went on to note that they had gone to Lilette the night before "for about the thousandth time" and that the menu never changes. "We really like Lilette, but come on!" he implored. So without further ado, let's debate menus and restaurants.

Rene: The idea of the ever evolving menu at a restaurant is a relatively new one. Well, that is not entirely true. Places like Chez Panisse and the thousand of French restaurants it was inspired by have served different menus everyday. Certainly a restaurant with an ever changing menu has become very popular in the last ten years. This is mostly due to the proliferation and abundance of farmers markets along with a growing sense of seasonal based cooking. All of which is a long winded way of saying, while I enjoy restaurants that are always challenging themselves to work with what God gives them, I am not sold that a restaurant has to use that formula to be considered great. The idea of a restaurant constantly changing its menu is more a reaction to what the consumer wants. Through magazines, shows, etc... the way a restaurant appeals to consumers is by being "market inspired". While it is a noble and delicious goal, it tends to make many restaurants seem monotonous. I want more personality out of a restaurant.

Peter: You know what lacks personality? Tomatoes in December and oysters in July. Should a chef force himself to use scientifically altered produce and frozen seafood just because his customers want to eat the same crawfish etouffee in November that they did in May? Or does it make more sense for a chef to talk to his suppliers, figure out what the harvest brought this week, and decide what to tailor his menu toward the freshest ingredients available? Changing your menu to reflect the seasons is not monotonous; serving Oysters Rockefeller and Baked Alaska everyday for 170 years is.

Rene: Distilling it down even further, there are chefs the world over who have created dishes people travel to taste. I am thinking of bites like Robuchon's pommes puree, Thomas Keller's Oysters and Pearls, or Drago's chargrilled oysters. Dishes define restaurants. No trip to Herbsaint is complete for me without an order of spaghetti with guanciale and fried poached egg. There is no reason for a menu to change completely when there are dishes that can stand the test of time. I don't begrudge either tactic a restaurant may take, but I get cravings for specific dishes or specific approaches to food more than I get cravings for a specific restaurant. Imagine the horror if you walked into La Boca and learned they had become vegetarian?

Peter: My worst nightmare is walking into La Boca and having Jared tell me that the sweetbreads and hanger steak have been replaced by watermelon carpaccio and eggplant stuffed with bulgur wheat. That being said, I understand that sometimes I can order flash fried brussels sprouts with my skirt steak and other times I have to settle for asparagus. Just as the crops change with the seasons, so do my tastebuds, which is why I'm more likely to opt for a restaurant that serves vichychoisse in the summer instead of one that insists on serving gumbo even when its 110 degrees outside. And maybe if we as consumers are more willing to accept the fact that we can't always order what we want, then our ecosystem will become more sustainable and less reliant on foods with artificial preservatives.

Rene: Take for instance, Boucherie which is always cycling in new dishes, cuisines, and techniques into their repertoire. Go there this month and Indian may be the theme. However, one is always guaranteed to find a few select dishes - the boudin balls, the grit cake with blackened shrimp - never leave. They don't leave the menu because they are an anchor to the chef's vision. A constantly changing menu is a sign of a chef who is both continuing to learn and also unsure of his or her food personality. I don't mean to say a chef should ever stop learning and expanding, but rather I like them to know a hit when they taste it.

Peter: You have enunciated what is known as the Great Compromise, a/k/a the Three-Fifths Compromise. If a restaurant allocates 60% of its menu to the greatest hits and the other 40% to dishes comprised of seasonal ingredients or the chef's own innovations, then harmony is achieved both by giving the people what they have come to expect from the kitchen and by allowing the chef enough room both to stay creative and to take advantage of nature's cycle. Boucherie and Herbsaint are great examples, but Susan Spicer has it down to a science at Bayona. On the left side of the menu are the signature dishes - goat cheese crouton, garlic soup, sweetbreads with sherry mustard - and on the right side of the menu are the nightly specials that change with the chef's whim and whatever raw ingredients are available. A little something for everyone.

Stoltzfus

Michael Stoltzfus came to New Orleans from Maryland to work at John Besh's August. Not long after,  he and then girlfriend now fiancee, Lillian Hubbard opened Coquette on the corner of Washington and Magazine in December of 2008. Within a few months they had Four Beans from the Times Pic and the restaurant was well on its way to joining the roster of restaurants one has to eat at in New Orleans. In December, Stoltzfus will open his second eatery, Sweet Olive in The Saint Hotel. Let's put twentyish questions on the clock and get to know Michael Stoltzfus.

I was about to go to college and my mom opened a bakery. She said, "why don't you work here for a few weeks before school starts?" I never left for college. Started cooking breakfast and lunch in the back of the bakery. Got an Alain Ducasse book and just taught myself from there.

While I was working at my mom's in the morning, I was spending nights working at a fine dining restaurant in Chestertown, Maryland. Then I went to work at Julia's, probably the best restaurant at that time in Maryland. At Julia's I worked every position in restaurant- waiter, cook, manager- save bartender. After that, I went to work at August. Stayed there for a year and a half before this opportunity fell in our laps.

Losing all my money (laughs). Actually the thing I was most afraid of was not being able to cook. When you work for someone else, there is always a way to do things. Their vision, their recipe are what you use. I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to cook food that was any good. When we opened, we had no idea what was going on with national economy. Luckily, Louisiana was pretty recession proof at that time. We were steady for the first five months, and then Brett Anderson reviewed us, and we took off from there. We had no idea he had been in, no idea we were on anyone's radar, and then the Times Picayune called to do a photo shoot for a review. We were shocked.

My approach to food has changed a lot. When we first opened, I was trying to emulate the cooking of the people I had learned from and so there was a heavy Besh presence to my food. In a way this was detrimental to my growth as a chef. A few years ago, something switched and my cooks and I started focusing our menu on what we would like to eat. How would we like to eat this ingredient. My cooks create more than I do now and in the last year we really started to focus on local products and purveyors. I'd say right now we get 80% of our produce locally and hopefully with Sweet Olive we will get that number to 100%.

I've become much more laid back recently. My biggest kitchen pet peeve is probably watching a cook turn a burner on high and try to cook something. The only time a burner should ever be on high in a kitchen is when you are trying to boil water. One of the most important aspects to cooking is controlling your heat and you can't do that on high. Also, I need a really clean kitchen. But all chefs are like that.

I love making bread. Making bread everyday for the restaurant can be monotonous, but there is nothing more rewarding than baking bread. What is funny is that at my mom's bakery, I never baked anything. Now I bake 60-70 loaves a day. Pulling a loaf of bread out of the oven is super rewarding. It is just flour, water, and yeast, but what comes out is so much more.

Hardest part of opening the restaurant was that neither Lillian nor I had any business background whatsoever. We had no idea of what we were getting ourselves into. I learned I was halfway decent at business things.

The French Laundry Cookbook- It is sort of the template of most cooks for the last 10 years or so, but I really love that book. Bread Baker's Apprentice. The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock's. And I really like the NOMA cookbook, because it is so different and revolutionary. His emphasis on foraging and cooking ingredients I've never heard of is so different, it is really cool.

These days my favorite kitchen tool is my Sharpie. But always the knife. I use an 8 inch Misono chef's knife for just about everything.

Had a cook on maybe his third day. Right before service on a busy Friday night there was a huge stock pot on a table by the dishwasher's station. The leg of the table gave out and the cook rushed over to save the stock. 15 gallons of near boiling hot stock went everywhere including all over him. That was a pretty gruesome thing to see.

The food at Sweet Olive is going to be updated versions of New Orleans and Southern food classics. We are going to take a similar approach there that we do at Coquette and have a good time with the food. I've been obsessed with collard greens lately. One idea has us cooking whole leaf collards sous vide, then treating it like a grape leaf and wrapping it around boudin. We are also going to do bar food for the bar, a really great Continental breakfast, and maybe a tiki bar themed rooftop bar. We've got 3-4 months to put together the menu; when we opened Coquette we did not have that luxury.

I get really nervous cooking for people, especially chefs. Cooks all have different approaches to foods, so I am always nervous when I serve a chef he is thinking, "This is not what I would have done." I'd probably just want to cook for friends and family mostly. I love when people come in and I can cook on the fly, just make new things with the ingredients we have in our kitchen. If I spend weeks on a new menu, it is invariably crap. But if I just throw something together it is always great. Desperation plays a critical role in this kitchen.

When not in my restaurant, I like to eat. I eat out a lot. When we first opened, we ate out whenever we could, in order to scope out the competition. But now we do it because we love to eat.

Most memorable meal was at Babbo. We had gone to New York to eat. One night we ate at Corton, Paul Liebrandt's restaurant. While the food was good, it was nothing special. You could tell that a lot of time had been put into each dish, but it was just lacking. Plus it was a very expensive meal. The next night we went to Babbo and did the pasta tasting for like $60. Everything was so simple, but so well done. The sommelier waited on us and halfway through switched pairings to grappa, there was rock music in the background, just a great meal.

Mike Gulotta of August, probably. He taught me how to make food taste good and how to run a kitchen.

Truffle oil, but thankfully that is going away anyway. I can't stand the stuff and will never use it here. That is disgusting stuff. And of course, I wish restaurants would get away from commodity meats and the like. I am not preachy about it, don't plaster farms all over the menu, but that is really important to me. As cooks we have a duty to our customers to give them healthy food- not just for their bodies but for the environment also.

Right now, I am really being influenced by Spanish and Vietnamese flavors and cooking. One of my cook's is from Miami and so he has a huge love of Spanish cooking. Another one of my cooks is absolutely obsessed with all things Vietnamese. Eventually I'd like to have a really casual spot that just serves awesome food without worrying about plating or dining rooms. I cook to make people happy and casual food does that better than anything else.

Usually the last thing I want to do when I get home is cook. Lillian is an excellent cook, so usually she has something ready. If not, I like to grill. The other day picked up some boudin stuffed quail from Butcher and threw those on the grill. If nothing to grill, Lillian hasn't cooked anything, and nothing in fridge, I just eat almonds.

La Boca is my favorite restaurant in the city. There is absolutely no pretension there. I love that they can serve me an appetizer that is just a piece of sausage and an entree that is just a piece of meat. Lillian is an occasional vegan, but even she loves La Boca. Adolfo thinks I am stalking him because I go to a lot of his restaurants and he is always there. Nine Roses, we go here pretty much every Sunday night in the winter. Horinoya is the only good sushi I've found in the city and their service is incredible. And Butcher, that place is an anomaly. Every time I go in there, it gets better and better. I love Butcher.

On a deserted island, I would need sparkling water. I go through 3 liters of the stuff a day. Something to dip ranch into, along with ranch dressing. Marconna almonds and crispy pig ear. We fry it up to order at the restaurant, and there is always a few bits for me to snack on. I figure I eat pig ear all night. Probably not healthy but hey it is good.

Saints Bye Week Makes for a Big Weekend

There is no such thing as an "off weekend" in the fall in New Orleans. The Saints bye week has left the door open for a number events to fill in the calendar, so strap on your boots for a busy weekend of eating and drinking.

On Saturday, the Broad Street Brewhaha will take place on the roof of the old Schwegmann's at 300 N Broad Street. The event will feature pick me ups from Coffee Roasters of New Orleans and beers by Abita, NOLA Brewing, Lazy Magnolia, Heiner Brau, and Bayou Teche. (Look out next year for Tin Roof to be added to the list.) Admission is free, and a $10 sample card guarantees you 10 3-ounce pours of the beers of your choice.

Sidenote: We wish we were going to the Carnivale de Vin Gala on Saturday night, but Santa did not deliver us the $1000 tickets as early Christmas presents. But if anyone wants to buy us Auction Item #16 entitled "A Few Bites of the Big Apple", we would quickly get over missing the gala. Moving on.

The premiere event of the weekend is the 4th Annual Po-Boy Festival, which will takse place along a seven block stretch of Oak Street beginning at Carrollton. The festival starts at 11:00am, and I advise you to arrive early as the crowds can get quite thick later in the afternoon. The map of po-boy purveyors can be found here, and from experience I can tell you that the booths farther from Carrollton are more likely to have shorter lines. (By the way, we are terribly disappointed that Dong Phuong is not on the list this year.) Finally, as you may recall, we served as "celebrity judges" for last year's Po-Boy Contest, but apparently our star has faded because we will not be on the panel this year. It was a good run.

Also on Sunday, La Boca will be hosting Asado Night at Rio Mar. The all you can eat meat feast features beef, lamb, pork, chicken, morcilla, and chorizo plus other La Boca favorites like provoleta and empandas. The cost is $50 per person and seating is limited, so call 525-8205 ASAP to make a reservation.

Last but not least, MVB will once again be open for business on Sunday night at Slim Goodies beginning at 5:00pm. With this week's recent shout out in the press, the MVB team is gearing up for what will hopefully be another successful burger weekend. One final note, the above linked article mistakenly listed this week's special as last week's. Just to clarify, this week's special is the "South of the Burger" - burger, blackbean and chipotle puree, guacamole, tomatillo crema, queso fresco, and grilled red onion. On The Pope's scale of deliciousness, we think it qualifies as "Lovin' in Your Mouth."

The Post-Katrina Top 20: #5 - #1

Today, we unveil the Top 5 additions to the New Orleans Dining and Drinking Scene Post-Katrina. We knew this was a cliche idea. However, going through the exercise provided us with an opportunity not only to examine the New Orleans restaurant scene in toto but also to look with special favor upon what came after the storm. Those restaurateurs, bartenders, and shopkeepers who chose New Orleans to hang their shingles or branch out, despite the odds.

First off, we realize many great restaurants struggled to return to New Orleans. They found their cooks, bussers, and waiters all over the country and brought them back. They dealt with insurance adjusters and new regulations. They reopened with skeletal crews and out of whack balance sheets. To them we owe a lot. For if they don't come back, these places don't exist. So a big round of applause to all the restaurants in New Orleans that reopened after Katrina.

We also know there are many great places that didn't make the list. Places like Il Posto, which Rene refuses to write about because he doesn't want to fight crowds on Saturday morning trips for a cappuccino and a California bagel. Places like Meson 923 which have returned to New Orleans a prodigal chef in Chris Lynch. Places like Mondo and Coquette which are putting good food in great neighborhoods and watching the lines form. And restaurants, stores, and bars that have yet to be conceived, developed and opened.

Cue the Chairman of the Board, "The Best is Yet to Come."

#5: The Sun Rarely Sets on The Besh Empire - In the days after Katrina, John Besh and his trusted cooks Blake LeMarie and Alon Shaya used the Katrina trinity (propane tanks, flatboats, and ice chests) to serve loads of hungry refugees and recovery workers. Nearly five years later, Chef Besh was once again at the forefront, this time in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. In between those times, he did little more than open 3 new restaurants and continue the legacy of a 4th. Not a bad stretch, if you ask us.

But it's not so much the quantity as the quality and diversity of the Besh family of post-K restaurants which warrants high praise. When Cobalt failed to reopen after the breach, Besh seized the opportunity to reinvent the first floor of the Masonic Temple into an Alsatian brasserie, complete with pulley and belt-driven fans which were a trademark at Kolb's. Enter Lüke, now the most popular restaurant for a business lunch in the CBD.

The dichotomy of forward thinking paired with a nod to the past was exemplified in two of Besh's post-K acquisitions. When his former mentor Chris Kerageaorgiou was in search of someone to pass the torch to at La Provence, Besh took over the reigns and revived its farm-to-fork history by growing vegetables and raising livestock on the grounds, while continuing the tradition of rustic French cuisine in a country house setting. Similarly, at The American Sector, Besh honors the greatest generation by serving World War II era food using contemporary ingredients and techniques.

And if three is good, four must be better. New Orleans has always had its own distinctive Creole-Italian cuisine, known for smooth, sweet red sauces and an unconventional bordelaise comprised of olive oil and garlic. But with the opening of Domenica, Chef John Besh and Alon Shaya ushered in a new era of Italian dining in the city. House cured salumi and wood-fired pizzas share menu space along with exquisitely made pastas, with no "red gravy" to be found.

#4: Sucre - Tariq Hanna, chef of Sucre, said it better than we ever could. When asked about why people like sweets he responded, "You only eat sweets for two reasons: because you are seeking comfort or soothing guilt."

No matter where you were when Katrina hit, or how you have lived your life since then, those descriptions fit. When Sucre opened it set off an only in New Orleans brawl between supporters of Sucre and supporters of La Divina Gelateria. The Jets and Sharks, Bloods and Crypts, and Hatields and McCoys look like catfights compared to the Blue Bloods and Hipsters.

Sucre has distinguished itself in our eyes. There are airy, pastel colored macaroons, petit fours with layers of raspberry, chocolate, and more chocolate, milkshakes spiked with Bailey's, espressos, truffles with sea salt, and of course cakes resembling whichever team the Saints are destroying that week.

Joel Dondis always had a sweet tooth. But it was while living and working in Germany, he first decided to one day own a pastry shop. He found going to the bakery down the street provided relief from long hours and low pay as a cook. Dondis and Hanna teamed up to open Sucre in April of 2007. Since then the childhood inspired, sweet shop on Magazine has expanded to include a pastry factory near Broadmoor, where the cakes, truffles, ice creams, and baked goods are made by a dedicated staff. A staff that includes many graduates of the Culinary Institute of America. The word is out among the nation's up and coming pastry chefs. If you want to be somebody, you need to work at Sucre.

Soon a location will open in Lakeside Mall with an espresso machine called the Slayer. "This is going to revolutionize the coffee drinking experience in New Orleans," Dondis explains. "You will be able to choose your blend, grind size, water temperature, pressure, all of it."

To steal from Rick Pitino, "McKenzie's isn't walking through that door."

But that's OK. We got Sucre now.

#3: St. James Cheese Co. - "People said we were insane to open a cheese shop in New Orleans," Danielle Sutton says. "We are glad to prove them wrong."

Prior to Katrina, Richard Sutton worked as a cheesemonger in London. He and his wife, Tulane alums (we hear it is a college), returned to New Orleans with the idea to open a quiet, little cheese shop uptown. When they opened in November of 2006, the plan was to only have one or two sandwiches and to build a small niche as a supplier of fine cheeses. That plan soon changed once the public got a taste of their sandwich creations.

In winter crowds clamor for the raclette and croque monsieur. And last summer, the removal of the BLT with Serrano ham replacing bacon caused an uproar. "We had customers call and ask if the BLT was on the menu. When we would say no, they would hang up on us," Danielle recounts.

But still, the staff at St. James focuses on delivering the best cheeses and charcuterie from around the world. To witness, walk in to St. James on a Thursday around noon. The line will snake from the register down the display cases filled with people drooling over the selections. Richard, or one of his able staffmembers, will come over to and ask you what you want. "What is new," you ask.

Their eyes light up like a kid on Easter Sunday who spies a basket of candy on the mantle. "Have you tried the new aged gouda? Or the Ste. Marcelin? A delicious Triple Creme is in, layered with truffles, try it. What about this blue from Humboldt?"

And off they go dispensing samples of cheese, pates, and cured meats, while taking an order for a Mozzarella sandwich, and uncorking a bottle of rose. Recently, St. James added an online presence via a partnership with Taigan.com, the high-end, luxury online shopping center (backed by First Street resident Julia Reed). Previously they only accepted phone orders for out of town shipments. Which is a great gift to give a sister, should you have one living in say DC or New York.

St. James is also a great spot for dinner. Let us explain. You know those Fridays, when there is no food in the house and you don't really feel like going out to dinner? Swing by St. James, pick out three or four cheese, a pate, some slices of Jamon Serrano (or Iberico if you got that cash money), and a baguette. Take it home and lay it out on the biggest cutting board you have. Open a bottle of wine, put your feet up, and graze the night away.

With Andy Scurlock manning the charcuterie and turning out impressive truffle-studded pates and English meat pies, the future of St. James is bright. But it is the last four years that are special for Richard and Danielle. As Danielle explains, "We love the feeling that we have become a neighborhood spot in a city of great neighborhood spots. Our customers have become our friends, they go to Italy or France and bring us back treats. That really means a lot to us."

When the Sutton's came to New Orleans, they did not know what to expect but what they found has warmed their hearts. "New Orleans has been so supportive and welcoming to us. Even dealing with City Hall was enjoyable," Danielle says.

If that isn't a sign, New Orleans is back. We don't know what is.

#2: Cochon/Cochon Butcher - Chef Donald Link said it best during his segment on No Reservations: "You respect somebody for staying here. Staying here after the storm and raising your family here is making a statement."

Not only did Chef Link stay in New Orleans to raise his family, he and partner Stephen Stryjewski also moved forward with their plans to open Cochon, the porcine mecca on Tchoupitoulas Street. Beside introducing New Orleanians to the wonders of rustic Acadiana cooking, the media frenzy surrounding Cochon sent an important message to the rest of the nation: New Orleans and its food culture still matter and are worth saving. While some members of the press were kicking us while we were down, restaurateurs like Link were too busy raising the city up to even bother with the naysayers.

But all of the press and accolades were no reason for Link to rest on his laurels. In early 2009 the Link Restaurant Group launched Cochon Butcher, the forerunner of the salumi movement that has swept both the local and national dining scenes. Many people don't realize that before ABC Restaurant in NYC began curing its speck in house, the coonasses of Cajun country had about a 250 year head start on them. Butcher has brought those time tasted crafts to the Big Easy, which in turn launched this artisan movement onto the national level.

#1: La Boca - The worst kept secret in New Orleans is that it is a wonderful place to get a steak. For years Ruth Fertel's halfway eponymous restaurants showed the world how to cook and serve a steak. Ruth's Chris Corporate Office left the city with the flood waters, pissing a lot of people off. Into this vacuum stepped La Boca, which has established itself as the city's best steakhouse.

Nick Bazan and Adolfo Garcia came up with the idea of La Boca prior to Katrina. Originally they wanted a 150 seat restaurant devoted to all things Argentinian meat. But the federal flood caused them to change their plans. Luckily, Taqueria Corona never returned and they got a good deal on a 47 seat restaurant. They also had to focus the menu to what ingredients they could get reliably day in and day out. As chef/partner Jared Ralls puts it, "Adolfo and I always talk about keeping dishes simple and singularly focused. By lessening the stuff on the plate, we can increase our chances for success."

La Boca opened on June 1, 2006, which as you are well aware is the first day of hurricane season. "It was a way of saying 'Screw it, we aren't going anywhere.' We had faith in New Orleans, faith it would come back, faith people would get what we were trying to do from a culinary standpoint," Ralls recounts.

It took about two years for the restaurant to really catch on with both locals and tourists. "Business was always good, but then all of a sudden at the beginning of 2008, we just exploded," Ralls says. The success has not stopped La Boca from doing a Service Industry Night every Thursday, when you can spy some of the city's best chefs digging into steaks and slugging red wine long after the customers have gone home.

La Boca has all the classic grill marks of a steakhouse, with subtle nods to more contemporary dining. The interior of La Boca is like eating inside a large brick fireplace, with red masonry, wood timbers, and a warm glow from the kitchen. In other steakhouses the walls are lined with pictures of sports stars from year's past shaking hands with the owner. Here, are Boca Junior soccer jerseys and paraphernalia from Argentina.

Rather than beat you over the head with bottles you can't afford, the wine list at La Boca offers an all Argentine selection of toned, lean whites and muscular, lusty reds. Affordability is the main link. Hell, there even is a surly maitre d', albeit one wearing a Marilyn Monroe tie, Scarface suspenders, and saddle oxfords.

The vibe of La Boca has nothing on the food. Gooey provoleta smeared over those rolls and lacquered with chimichurri make the grilled cheese seem juvenile. The plump, tender sweetbreads, grilled whole and served with just a squeeze of lemon, have no equal in the city. The gnocchi is like eating a potato that just made love to butter and cream. Even the heart of palm salad makes a compelling argument to eat more veggies.

Then we come to the main event, the steaks. Sourced from places with cool names like Snake River and Painted Hills, this is not the place to order a filet (although the bone-in job is pretty good). Go with the hanger, the skirt, the skirt with skin, or the flank. All of the steaks, save the bottom sirloin flap, get only a sprinkling of salt and pepper before hitting the grill. This absence of fussing around means you taste the beef in all of it's glory. The three chimichurris are the colors on your palette wheel. Paint as you will.

Don't forget an order of the fries, or the mashed potatoes, or the corn pudding or the asparagus. Go ahead and linger for a while. If it is a nice March or October evening, the windows to Fulton St. will be open wide. Sit, swirl, and sip that Malbec. It should be loosening up about now, as should your mood. Stick around long enough and the Red Eye will open. Go ahead and go, we won't judge. Lord knows we've all been there once before and soon enough, will be again.

We chose La Boca as our favorite Post Katrina addition to the New Orleans food scene for a few reasons. First, we love steak and feel it is the best steakhouse in the city. Secondly, although La Boca is a few years old, there is still a feeling of excitement every time we go. One of us will go and text the other, "Heading to La Boca." Instantly a wave of jealousy spreads over the other Blackened Out twin.

Third, the Warehouse District has become the post-Katrina center of dining in the city. The sheer volume of excellent restaurants within a 6 block walk keeps each operator on top of their game. And in this area, there is no better place we like to eat than La Boca.

Finally, we all lost nouns in Katrina - places, things, and people. Whatever it is Katrina took from you, what you really lost was the memory of the noun. Your kids walking down the stairs on Christmas morning, the picture of you and your cousin in Destin, or the restaurant where your husband proposed. Restaurants in New Orleans have always been more than places to get a meal. They are links to the past. Memory place card holders which evoke not only good food but also great times. Maybe it was eating at Ruth's after either your First Communion or high school graduation. Maybe you never went but always wanted to go to Christian's. Restaurants matter here almost as much as the World Champion Saints.

But what Katrina didn't take was our ability to dine out. To eat well with friends or perfect strangers. To create memories which will live on past the latest fad in cooking or the bonds of any friendship. La Boca has become our favorite new place to create lasting memories. The restaurant has accomplished this by borrowing from the past while being truly original. By extension, La Boca feels like it has always been a part of New Orleans. For that, it gets our nod as the best addition to the New Orleans food scene Post-Katrina. Here's wishing it stays a treasure of New Orleans forever.

La Boca at Home

This blog has waxed poetically about La Boca (and Adolfo Garcia's other joints) enough that we could be paid spokesmodels for the perfectly cooked steaks, punchy chimichurri, succulent sweetbreads, and crispy fries flowing out of the kitchen. Not to mention the gnocchi, pisco sours, and Malbecs. Provoleta hides from us when either Peter or I approach. But alas our contract with Ford Modeling only places us in ads for flip flops and mittens.

The hanger steak at La Boca showcases the simplistic joy of a well-cooked bite of meat. The asparagus is not half bad either, you know for a vegetable. You can make a similar meal at home with just a few simple ingredients and steps.

Asparagus. Get 'em fresh, bend them in half til they snap, and discard the lower portion. Blanche them in salted water for 3 minutes. Plop in an ice bath. Once chilled, drain and dry off. Set aside.

Make a chimichurri. Into a blender, food processor, or if you are a glutton for punishment mortar and pestle, combine one whole bunch of cilantro tops, a half bunch of parsley, two garlic cloves, half of a jalapeno (with seed and ribs removed), 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, salt, and a 9 second glug of olive oil. Blend until smooth. Let this relax for an hour or so in the fridge.

You need to cook the hanger on a grill because you want to develop a crusty, charred exterior. When you break that outer crust, the bright red interior of the meat will scream to be eaten. So get your fire going. Meanwhile, remove the hangers from the fridge at least thirty minutes prior to cooking. Heavily season them with salt and pepper. Just let them hang out.

Grill the hangers for around 6 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove from heat and allow meat to rest. Now, place the drained and dried asparagus onto the grill for about 1 minute per side, just to get some purty grill marks. At this stage, I also like to place a half of lemon on the grill. The heat will caramelize the sugar in the lemon. When the asparagus is finished, squeeze the lemon over it and toss. Grilled lemon squirted onto on just about anything is delicious, well save a wound or cut.

The light was dark and the meat did not rest long enough, but it still turned out to be one hell of a good meal.

And it couldn't be easier. Hanger's are an inexpensive cut (about $9 a pound at Butcher). This whole steak dinner for two came in at around a $24 investment, including a bottle of Domaine Cantarelles Cabernet/Syrah Blend. So you don't have to break the bank to satisfy the Boca. Try it and let us know how it goes. And if you can make fries at home like they can at La Boca, keep it to yourself.

Farewell to Meat - Lorin Gaudin

Lorin Gaudin: Media Personality, Celebutante and International Raconteur
The Cut: Entrana con fina la Piel, from La Boca

In the New Orleans culinary underground, Lorin Gaudin knows where the bodies are hidden. She has been active in the New Orleans food scene for years and as a result has a finely tuned ear for New Orleans food gossip. She will probably kill us for saying this, but she has photos of Robert Peyton wearing little more than his trademark sweater vest, Docker's No Wrinkle Slacks, and a scowl.

This is not to say that she is a ginnywoman, but rather that she is well tuned into the stories and motivations of chefs and restaurants. You can check out Lorin on WDSU TV on Thursday afternoons and on WBOK 1230 am on Fridays from 2-3 where she dishes out platefuls of restaurant and food news.

So when we needed a final candidate for the Farewell to Meat series, we naturally turned to her. Lorin graciously agreed, and here is her take on what would be the perfect Mardi Gras dinner.

1) Where are you eating? La Boca

2) What cut of meat? Skirt steak with the skin on.

3) How cooked? The way it comes - juicy and cooked-through.

4) What else are you eating with it? Golf salad and those incredible garlicky fries with the green chimichurri.

5) What are you drinking with it? Whatever fabulous Argentinian wine Adolfo Garcia suggests.

6) What are you giving up for Lent? Bread. I figure Lent dovetails nicely with Passover when Jews give up eating anything leavened. Oh, did I mention I'm Jewish?

A Mano

For roughly a thousand years New Orleans has been the home to a wonderfully unique brand of Italian cooking, known as Creole-Italian. But in recent years, a few restaurants (like the Italian Barrel) have opened which present a more Italian-Italian dining experiences. Much like Chinese restaurants, which often cook the cuisine of a particular region, these restaurants focus on regional Italian cooking. The newest of the bunch is A Mano.

A Mano is the latest venture of Adolfo Garcia and Nick Bazan, following in the footsteps of the incredibly good Rio Mar and La Boca. Josh Smith is the chef-partner who is charged with producing regional Italian specialties. It is important to note that the average Italian would have little idea what Italian food is. He would know the food of his region, or even sub-region, and of course that would be the only authentic Italian food. Even the food from a village away would likely be scoffed at by him.

When we dined last Friday, the place was packed with the Fooderatti- including Dread Pirate Robert and Lorin Gaudin. Try as he might, Dread Pirate was unable to spoil our dinner. But he did step on my camera with what he called his "Special Shoes"-3-inch, zebra and turquoise Manolo Blahniks-hence there are no pictures.

The Italian language has all sorts of quirks and interesting phrases which are most readily apparent in their depictions of food. Fans of the old Molto Mario program on Food Network will remember how he always took a moment to explain the phraseology of a dish. The menu at A Mano is reflective of this Italian tradition. Take, for example, the Supli al Telefono. The name translates as telephone wires and as you take a bite of the caciocavallo cheese filled rice fritters, you see why. Thin lines of tangy cheese stretch from your mouth to the savory rice ball as if connecting two distant towns.

Or try Mozzarella in a Carriage (Mozzarella in Carozza con Salsa d'Acciughe) which is nothing more than a well-tailored grilled cheese covered in anchovy caper sauce. But the taste makes the regular grilled cheese look like a scemo.

Dishes like the Trippa alla Fiorentina show this kitchen will cook and serve anything authentic. The tender slowly braised tripe comes set in a delicious and piquant tomato sauce. Utterly delicious, just wish there would have been more bread to sop up the juices. The appetizers run from $5-$8 and you could put a nice tasting menu together with a few of them and some pastas (which range from $8-$12).

The pastas feature the lesser-known stars of the pasta marquee. There is Orrechiette Pugliese ("little ears in the style of Puglia") with broccoli rabe, dried tomatoes, sausage and ricotta salata. But the wild boar ragu simply blew our heads off. The meat was tender and delicious while just hinting at the rough and tumble structure of wild boar.

As far as entrees, we only sampled the Petto d'Anatra con Fichi e Marsala, but the duck breast was cold and the figs seemed lost against the sweet wine sauce. But hey, its early in A Mano's development.

A cheese plate comparing three sheep's milk cheeses and a bottle 2007 Guidobono Barbera d'Alba ($30) rounded out a very good first showing from A Mano. With A Mano, Garcia and Bazan have once again shown that the cuisines of the world can stand tall in New Orleans on its own merits. The hard part for you? Deciding which restaurant-La Boca, Rio Mar, or A Mano-to dine at. In bocca al lupo!

Withholding official judgment, but that night's dinner was a birdie.

The Mouth

Today we are going to play the guessing game. Here's the scenario:

It's Friday night, and you are part of a group of 10 people going out for dinner. What to eat? Guy 1 says it's too hot for Italian, Girl 2 doesn't eat sushi, Guy 3 wants something more than po-boys, etc. Finally, 9 of the people decide on steak, with a promise to the vegetarian in the group that there will be something on the menu for her to eat. Now, where to go? The alpha male takes charge and nominates La Boca as the venue for the carnivorous feast. Upon your arrival, the waiter tells you that they offer a special group menu for parties of 8 or more. He rattles off the details, and before you know it the parade of dishes described below are arriving at your table.

Question: How much does the group menu cost per person?

Although the above pisco sour is not included in the group menu, the picture helps you envision the setting.

The feast starts with a bruschetta of smoked trout with sweet onion marmalade.

Onto the Provoleta - Argentinian cheese melted over olive oil in a cast iron skillet and flavored with a generous sprinkling of oregano. (One skillet for every four people in your group.) Perfect to be scooped onto to the complimentary bread and then spiced up with one of the three housemade chimichurris - classic, red pepper, and creole mustard.

Then the Gaucho Plate of grilled sweetbreads, chorizo, beek skewers, and empanadas. (As with the Provoleta above, each Gaucho Plate is to be shared among 4 people.) Never had grilled sweetbreads before? You will love them, trust me. The grilling creates a crusty exterior while leaving the inside still creamy.

Next, how about a small pasta course? Usually you will get the gnocchi in a cream sauce with pancetta and peas, or in the winter you may get parpadelle with sweet potato and mushrooms. Above is the fettucini with eggplant, tomatoes, and olives, which (if you ask nicely) can be substituted in lieu of a steak.

Following the pasta is a little hearts of palm salad with avocado. Nothing wrong with vegetables.

Finally, we get to the beef. Each diner gets to choose his cut (and his knife). Strip, flank, hanger, or lastly (for a small upcharge) a filet. In our opinion, the hanger is the best choice.

But Peter, what about side dishes? OK. What would you say to grilled asparagus, mashed potatoes, corn pudding, and french fries "La Boca" tossed in garlic and parsley?

Phew, that was a lot of food. Oh wait, I forgot about dessert. How about a Dulce de Leche Crepe, Amaretto and Coconut Ice Cream Cake, and a slice of an incredibly dense chocolate torte?

OK, that's it, I swear. Now, how much per person?*

La Boca Group Menu - Double Eagle

*The Group Menu at La Boca is $50 per person with a $5 upcharge for a filet mignon. Contender for best steak in the city, and winner of best value in the city.

La Boca

Ahh, La Boca; what would I do without you? I love restaurants that seem to transport a diner somewhere. La Boca takes me to a very happy place. A place where dark wood beamed ceilings, exposed bricks, and windows open onto bustling Fulton Street. La Boca, I want to write a sonnet about you. But I dont have any pieces of paper with only 14 lines on it.

Another trip there this past weekend with Doc, the Expert, Lindsay and I reaffirmed my belief that La Boca is the best steakhouse in New Orleans. Incredibly reliable, their beef has few equals in these parts (including some from Snake River Farms), attentive service, a small but food focused wine list, and last but not least, Carter Oosterhouse from television's Space Trading Spouses. Lindsay, on left, believes Carter to be a hunky beefcake.

Below is what I think to be a beautiful hunk of beef. The skirt steak, topped with a smattering of the classic chimichurri and the roasted red pepper chimichurri. In many circles, I am known as the "Jackson Pollack of chimichurri." You can even see the remaining bits of my pisco sour and my belly. Lucky you.

Are you getting hungry? The hangar steak medium rare makes many vegans second guess their decision. The flavor is deep, the texture silken. Look at the artful photography, as it captures the knife and fork resting in between battles. The juices of the meat awaiting their eventually ride on a bread basket to your mouth. This is some hot food porn. That last word should bring us about one million more new viewers.

A deep, rich Susana Balbo Cabernet Sauvignon, some provoleta, and some fries rounded out another meatacular meal. For good meaure I added on a Grand Marnier. Why?

Well, we heard rumors that the Pope was lurking around the Warehouse District under the guise of working. And by working I mean, His Holiness was entertaining some nationally known, and hence not us, food writers. He was very mum about who was there. Secrecy being a fallacy of the papacy.

Following work the Pope retired to the Red Eye, where our intrepid photgrapher snapped what is believed to be the only known photo of the Pope...drinking...in a bar...surrounded by women. As you can see, the Pope in his element is a very happy man indeed.

After Work Today...

Well, another week has passed. Now, some politicians have been debating pesky things lately. I recall something about taxing health care to pay for education and bailing out someone from prison. As we say in South Louisiana, irregardless, the weekend has arrived with a vengance and a chip on its shoulder.

Lindsay is out of town at a Balloon Festival in Natchez. Which has caused me to say "Those aren't hot air balloons, they're balloons for a paaaaaaaarrrrrrrty" all week. To take advantage of this manly night, I need to go somewhere for a good cocktail, a steak, and a cigar; all of which will hopefully lead to some belching.

I think La Boca would do the trick this evening. (Don't worry, Lindsay, I will let the dogs out first.) A frothy, strong Pisco Sour and some provoleta should get the kinks out. I like the flank, but the skirt with the skin would not suck either. Some fries, chimichurri, and a deep, rich malbec round out what will be the most one sided bachelor night in history. I may even go home and watch a football game on the History Channel while cutting my lawn.

As for the cigar that was all talk. No way I could hide that from Lindsay before she got home. And I won't do laundry on Bachelor Night. I'm not Robert Peyton.

Who wants to join?

Weekend in Review

Friday afternoon drinks at Bridge Lounge. Great spot only one problem. Everyone orders mojitos there. Which is great; although each one of those drinks requires numerous steps and considerable time. So sometimes getting an order in can take a while. On the flip side the bartenders have the forearms of a 15 year old boy. I am not at liberty to say which food journalist on New Orleans cuisine was also there, but lets just say he is easily the second or third most popular food journalist in New Orleans.

Another wonderful dinner at La Boca. That place is top notch. Pisco Sours, Provoleta, hangar steak for Lady, and flank for me. I got to admit the hangar steak beats the flank. Surprisingly fellow blogger Peter also showed up there for dinner (completely random) with the Palm Room Hostess, and two other law cronies. They too enjoyed their meal. Peter was coming off what many would consider a full weekend by 6 p.m. Friday evening: Lunch at Luke with the Papal Family, Old Absinthe House, 2 Hand Grenades and a lap dance. His evening continued; his dry cleaner thanked him the next day.

Then, the 25th Anniversary Rebirth Concert. Fellow Blue Jay Harry Connick, Jr. was in attendance; however the fight song was not sung. That concert blew me away. The best part about it was the Baby Boyz Brass Band; a group of tweens and teens that could really play. To me there is something so frightening and exciting about when the front line of a brass band, finishes a lyric and takes a step back before blasting notes into their instruments. That sight is the most joyous firing line one can imagine.

Saturday, Lady headed off to Shreveport for some baby shower thing. I stayed behind. The Crescent City Farmer's Market had Brian Landry of Galatoire's dolling out Shrimp Remoulade. What a breakfast. I picked up a brisket from Mr. Justin Pitts of Mississippi. Based on some personal instructions from Mr. Pitts and Steven Stryjewski of Cochon I slow-cooked that thing in a dutch oven for about 8 hours. I added a little crab boil, some creole tomatoes, onions and garlic and about a cup of water. What came out was heavenly and matched really well with the creole cream cheese grits I also made. Ok, so I totally stole that from Cochon. Judge if you must.

Saturday for lunch, before checking out The Dude's holdings, I grabbed a quick bite at Baru. A corn, cheese, pink sauce, and potato strips dish turned out to be the highlight. Sweet grilled corn, salty cheese, and then essentially mini-french fries. Also, a wonderful pair of flaky and just greasy enough to cure a hangover empanadas. The empanadas were served with this highly herbal concoction of parsley, cilantro, lime, and peppers. A tres leches cake that was really good but as I was dining solo became to sweet towards the end. Not Baru's fault; mine for having very few friends. Bring your own booze for now at Baru, but when that changes expect this place to really take off.

Sunday completely lazy. Cooked a rump roast by first triming it of some of its fat. Then, I studded the beast with garlic slivers. I then sliced the fat up into tiny pieces and used it to plug the holes where the garlic was and also to introduce fat into a pretty lean cut. Coated the rump in salt, pepper, Tony's, and garlic salt. Seared it on all sides; added onions, and deglazed with cognac and beef stock. Into the oven, covered, at 250 for about 7 hours. Served it over Romano cheese grits and with some caramelized red pearl onions. It tasted good. But the oven needs to go into hiding while the summer does what it does. Even better for lunch today as a po-boy, with Barqs, and Zapp's Cajun Crawtators.

That is in my book the definition of a New Orleans Weekend.

La Boca Vida

Saturday Night Special (SNS) came in yesterday for the wedding this weekend and for various and assorted sundry chores. The long road home ended at around 5:45 for me, thanks to everyone lining I-10. SNS and I were having a few beers and talk naturally turned to food. SNS spent some time in Argentina and considers himself an expert on the art of Argentinian cuisine. Naturally, his ears perked up when I mentioned La Boca. So we would dine there.

La Boca, the second restaurant of Nicolas Bazan and Adolpho Garcia, occupies a dark, intimate, brick walled wedge next door to the River entrance of The Red Eye on Fulton St. Very romantic, the perfect place for SNS and I to have an awkward man date (I should add that Lady planned on joining us, but duty called). We began with Pisco Sours. Pisco (a type of Peruvian Brandy), simple sugar, an egg white, and lime juice, mixed frothy like the waves of the sea and then topped with cinnamon. Tart and sweet; this is what margaritas hope to be when they grow up.

Our waiter, Victor, then presented us with bread and a variety of chimichurri sauces. First, one was traditional, herbaceous and garlic notes with a vinegar finish. Then, a horseradish based sauce and a roasted red pepper chimichurri; of all of these, my favorite was the last.

Next, an order of Provoleta. This dish shows up in different cuisines and is essentially a hard cheese cooked to soften it and topped with olive oil and herbs. You spoon it onto bread and try and hold back the sensation to order another one.

SNS picked a Malbec that he drank in his Gaucho days saying, "This is what you drink to get hammered." Lucky for us, Victor suggested something a bit better. Malbec's with their heavy tannin overload and tobacco notes would work for this steak dinner; but for me it has never risen to the level of a sipping wine.

We each ordered the Vacio. 14 ounces of tender, meltingly good flank steak. Cooked simply, sliced against the grain, and presented on a plate. No garnish, no mashed potatoes, no port reduction demi glace. Just beef; it was what was for dinner. Words fail me in describing how good this steak was. The meat melted away like one of those fresh breath tabs. All that was left was the flavor of beef. Which for many of us we have not tasted in a while, with all the gussying up steaks get at restaurants. The sauces provided an interesting flavor note to the meat without changing the overall flavor: meat.

We did order some french fries which were thin, house made, crunchy and lord were they good. A glass of Grand Marnier a piece and a delightful chat with the Maitre d' and we were out of there. By far the best value steak dinner in town and perhaps the best steak dinner bar none. Total bill was about $130. Not a bad price to pay to catch up with a friend and here him say, "If I lived here, this would be dangerous. Seriously, I'd come here everynight."

La Boca.

The Phoenix begins its ascent...

I had noble and carefree plans for Saturday night. Lady had a bachelorette party at the Embassy Suites in the Warehouse District. So the plan was to try out La Boca, drop her off, and wander around before picking her up. I vastly underestimated the ease of accomplishing that task; and such failure made me incredibly optimistic about New Orleans and living here. I love this city and here is why.

First, the warehouse district looked like a parade had just gotten out. 8:15 pm and bodies filed in and out of restaurants and bars. La Boca was slammed. We sat the bar for what was promised as a twenty minute wait. While waiting we each had a pisco sour, which was incredibly smooth and delicious. The clock struck 8:45 and Lady was already 30 minutes late to the party. So we had to take a pass. Which was not a bad thing as neither of us were hungry and I want to go to La Boca and eat, not nibble.

I dropped her off and decided to swing by Wolfe's in the Warehouse to see if the Pope was in (he was not). I had a sezerac then decided to walk around. La Boca still had every table in the place booked. Rock and Sake bulged with bodies and techno music. Rio Mar was standing room only. Emeril's packed as always, but 3-4 deep in the bar area. I walked by Cochon partly to see the circus and partly because I was craving fried boudin. No chance at Cochon. People were multiplying like rabbits. It was now 9:30 at night.

I had Chef Link's food on my mind so I trekked over to Herbsaint. Slammed as La Chat Noir was letting out. I grabbed a spot at the bar, narrowly missing a chair to a lady who claimed hse had been eyeing the last two seats for her and her husband. In the words of the Special Man, I "Let her have it."

Another Sezerac, a menu. "It has been crazy, things are booking up at Cochon and here faster than we can answer the phone," responded the bartender and manager in unison when I asked what it has been like since the article. An amuse bouche arrived. A deep fried ball of Duck Rillette set on top of a house made creole mustard topped with a pickled jalepeno. Yes, it was good and it satisfied my craving for deep fried boudin. Following the amuse was a salad of iceberg, bacon, radishes, and blue cheese. So completely ordinary and plebian of an order. Yet, everytime I get it I am glad I did. Crisp, tart, salty, and I am sure not fattening at all.

An order of gnocchi seared in olive oil topped with tomato and shaved Parmesan cheese. One should be able to buy those divine pillows like one buys potato chips.

Drank a new wine. A Luxembourg white, very basic with a few hints of fruit. Not acidic, perfect for sipping and pairing. Finished it off with a glass of Grand Marnier and a conversation with Chef Link. As always his humble demeanor hid the enthusiasm he has for his terrific accomplishment. We talked about the new venture. "Housemade Charcuterie, wine bar, sandwiches and small plates....simple stuff," he said. I cant wait.

11:15 now, Cochon still slammed, Emeril's still packed. Stopped into the Red Eye stayed longer than I thought. People, people everywhere. Lady called ready to be picked up at Pat O's. Quarter even more crowded. Locals smiling, tourists wide eyed, each person full of opportunity. Great night for the soul.