A Charming Bistro

In The United States of Arugula, David Kamp spends a good portion of the book writing about Chez Panisse. In one passage he discusses the ideals behind the restaurant and a particular quote stuck with me. In it, Jeremiah Tower talks about what Alice Waters was really trying to do with Chez Panisse. Tower believes Waters was just trying to recreate a typical Parisian bistro. The kind of place were someone can go, chat up the bartender, have a bite to eat, and drink a glass of good, inexpensive wine.

New Orleans has many restaurants which fit this description. One that fulfills the Platonic ideal of a bistro for me is Vizard's. The ivy covered exterior of Vizard's creates a jewel box like setting for dining. The wall facing Magazine Street is entirely open with huge windows embellished with etched fleur de lis. Walking into the restaurant one is greeted by the hostess or if you are lucky the young, labor law violating host (who is Chef Vizard's son). You may feel as if you have entered a secret club, and you would be right.

The bar is on your right with maybe six or seven stools. A small dining room with no more than fifteen tables is off to the left. Every available inch of the room is used to store extra silverware or bottles from the interesting wine list. A lively atmosphere, helpful if sometimes reserved service, and the feeling of bonhomie (complete with a noise level suitable to a good party) round out a pleasant bistro experience.

The menu at Vizard's covers the basics of New Orleans dining while also incorporating some imaginative takes on bistro classics. Gumbo, crabmeat, red fish, bordelaise, frisee salads, hangar steak all make an appearance. This restaurant should satisfy anyone from an adventuresome diner to the meat and potatoes crowd. Besides what we tried this last visit, a daily gumbo, a crabmeat nelson, a seafood chop salad, the roast chicken, redfish, and Vizard's Cap (the cap end of the ribeye), all piqued our interest.

To begin our meal, the kitchen sent out a shot glass filled with a sublime puree of butternut squash. The soup coated the inside of your mouth at once luxurious and fleeting, leaving you wanting just one more sip. Steam laden bread, creamy butter flaked by pieces of pink Hawaiian salt, and a generous cocktail help you settle into the evening.

For apps, Lindsay got the scallop flan. We were informed that the flan needed a few more minutes to set-a good sign that the kitchen keeps the waiters informed. Soon the apps arrived. I did not get to taste Lindsay's flan as she devoured it and the crabmeat topping in record time.

For my appetizer I got the Greens, Egg, and Ham. Frisee and spinach topped by a paneed egg with bacon and a roasted shallot dressing with some rather bland slices of bread pretending to be croutons. What I really liked about this dish, besides everything, was that the dressing properly used a miser for the acid component instead of spendthrift.* The tendency to douse a salad in vinegar in order to cut the richness of the egg and bacon predominates in most restaurants these days. But I would rather fully enjoy the buttery explosion of cholesterol induced happiness and get the cut from a glass of wine or a vodka with a twist.

For our mains, Lindsay got the duck with sweet potatoes and greens. Crispy skin, although a few more minutes on a lower temperature would have resulted in a deeper crust. The potatoes were simply roasted and the greens expertly wilted.

I got the veal hanger with pommes frites and bordelaise. WOW. And as Jon Smith would say, "let me say that backwards, WOW." Hangar is restaurant speak for hip these days, but I had not yet seen a veal hangar.

Sometimes dishes defy an exact description. When they do, as this did, I find that they usually evoke memories most often associated with generalities. You take a bite, oohh and ahh, and just say "Damn this is good." Nothing more need be said. For this dish that general feeling was that this meat evoked all the characteristics that carnivores hold dear: juicy, flavorful, gushing on the inside, and kissed by flame. A connection with meat eaters past and future took place in that little room on Magazine and boy was I glad to be there.

The wine list has some home runs on it: a Caymus Conundrum, a few selections from the Medlock Ames winery, and some Old World selections. However for us, we went with a 2006 David Arthur Chardonnay from Napa. Just a stunner of a chardonnay. If you are one of those people who don't like chardonnay, congrats on taking your wine cues from Sideways and Sex and the City. Before you trash this noble grape to the next Dink at your pilates class, perhaps you should read this article. This wine drank more like a fine scotch with wisps of smoky peat and an interlude of salted nuts. For a wine to stand up to the myriad of dishes we ordered, all the while remaining truly unique, says a lot about Chardonnay's value.

Dessert was a lemon cheesecake with a glass of Nocello for Lindsay and Grand Marnier for myself. Service also has some connection to a Lyonnaise bouchon or Parisian bistro-meaning at times it may seem they are ignoring you. But in reality the service staff just wants you to enjoy the meal without unnecessary intervention. If you are in a hurry, I would go elsewhere. But if you are in a hurry, why are you going out to eat?

To sit, to talk, to drink nice wine, and to eat well this is something we should all do at least once a week. It can not take place every week at Vizard's, but I wish it would.

Birdie-Eagle.

*From the Spanish Proverb- Four persons are wanted to make a good salad, a spendthrift for oil, a miser for vinegar, a counselor for salt, and a mad med to stir it all up. Now, anyone want to translate that into spanish?

Father's Day Alert

Recently Ralph Brennan released his eponymous cookbook covering the seafood of New Orleans. This book has a certain amount of heft to it; however one thing you will appreciate is the detail to which Mr. Brennan and his co-writers devote to each recipe. Ever wanted to know how to clean soft-shell crabs? A photographic step-by-step account awaits. I highly recommend this book (and Mr. Brennan will gladly sign and personalize a copy for you) for either you or say your dad.

On Saturday for lunch Lady and I tried out Mr. Brennan's recipe for Barbecue Shrimp. We scored some U-15s from the Crescent City Farmer's Market. The recipe turned out wonderful. However, in an attempt to make the recipe more user friendly, Mr. Brennan instructs the careful culinarian to add a few drops of water followed by bits of butter to the pan. This is of course essentially a technique known as beurre monte. However, for the sake of shrimp (and their fragile cooking time) I would suggest preparing the beurre monte beforehand and then ladling into the pan. This can easily by done by adding a tablespoon of water to a sauce pan and then slowly whisking in bits of cold butter. The resulting, still emulsified, melted butter is a great all around cooking tool (especially for ladling over meats before popping in the oven).

Using beurre monte, rather than making beurre monte in the pan, will allow you to better control the doneness of the shrimp. No real effect on the flavor, but perfectly cooked shrimp are easier to peel. And perfection is the only goal here at Blackened Out.

Other than that one minor problem, the shrimp exploded with flavor and of course, there was some serious sopping up to do. We drank a bottle of the Medlock Ames Chardonnay from the State Dinner. Then a nap. Nice little way to spend a Saturday.

Dr. John said it best...

Something about small restaurants grabs my attention. Vizard's redefines small and I could not be happier with my dining experience there. The wines were from Medlock Ames (Ames was in attendance).

Began with a glass of rose. Unlike the blush color of most roses, this wine had an almost copper tint to it. Good start.

First course arrived with a great chardonnay. Rather than stand by the California directive that all chardonnay's must have an oaky, buttery profile, this wine stood out for its delicate approach to a classic grape. First course was a lobster gnocchi with a smattering of mushrooms. Now, usually at these dinners that means if your dish has lobster in it, congrats you won, now do the dishes. Here enormous chunks of lobster rested their head on pillows of potato. Almost a unanimous choice for dish of the evening.

Next a cassoulet salad. Read that last sentence again. Duck Confit, pork belly, white beans, and escargot, (Holy Crap are you kidding me) plated onto a salad of frisee. The heat from the cassoulet heated the frisee and took some of the bitterness out of that green. Wine missed the mark, it being a Red Blend. With something as soulful and deep as a cassoulet salad, a wine with a smoother finish would have perhaps paired better. Not a bad wine, maybe a tad immature. As some have said about myself.

Now, veal tournedos encrusted in whole grain mustard with sweetbreads and a sauce flavored with spices and chocolate. The spice of the dish, which was really the mustard, worked really well with the tenderness of the veal. The sweetbreads were fried perfectly. Little nuggets of thymus gland, so good the I want more impulse took over. Wine was a merlot. Ames began his discussion on this merlot by once again telling everyone that just because Sideways (a terrible movie in my opinion) told American's Merlot is shit, does not mean it is. And this Merlot proved that.

Spinalis. I had no clue what this was so let me explain. It is the cap end of a rib eye. Tender as a filet with the marbling of a rib eye, this is one hell of a cut of meat. The plate was finished with some fried oysters. I think Chef Vizard was going for a play on a carpetbagger steak. Whatever he attempted it worked. Just an amazing all around dish. This course was paired with a Cabernet. Big, juicy and just that slight of hint of tanin. I really loved this wine, we made out.

Ended things with a cheese course, which I really liked as it meant I did not have to wake up in the middle of the night and stare at the ceiling.

Now, usually at these dinners the food is about par. Which is ok, the kitchen is taxed to turn out 45 plates of food at the same time. Well, last night the food broke the mold. All the food hit birdie or even eagle status. I anxiously await a return to Vizards and I suggest you go as well. That kitchen cooks. You know it is a succesful dinner when discussion centers around everyone's favorite dish; and each person argues persuasively for different dishes.

The Pope could not make it and we had to sub a different couple at the last minute. But our table had a great time. So thanks to everyone who made it and thanks to Medlock Ames and the staff at Vizards. We had great company, delicious food, interesting new wines, and an evening to remember. Such a night...

Eagle on the evening, Birdie-eagle on everything.

Mark your calendars for July 17th. Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Dinners.