Happy Holidays from The Pelican Club

Another holiday season, another trip to The Pelican Club. Like the swallows to Capistrano, as soon as the calendar turns to December I always plan my reservation at one of the most underutilized restaurants in the city.

I will be the first to admit that the food at The Pelican Club has never struck me as either flawless executed or avant garde in terms of creativity. But the service has never been short of excellent in all of my visits, and with a dining room which may be my favorite setting in the French Quarter, a meal at The Pelican Club is always a pleasurable dining experience.

The Pelican Club is one of those French Quarter favorites which only serve lunch on Fridays in December, and I imagine that the special nature of this mid-day meal service was reason for the restaurant's emptiness last week. (Note: If you are planning on lunching tomorrow or next Friday and do not yet have a reservation, I would try here.) During the day time, the succession of dining rooms brightens as you move away from the center of Exchange Alley and closer to Bienville Street. Upon seating, a waiter will happily take your order for the bar's generously sized cocktails and present a basket of the house baked foccacia for you to subsist on while perusing the menu.



Escargots in Casserole

We started with baked oysters on the half shell, which experienced major shrinkage underneath a sprinkling of bacon and parmesan with garlic herb butter yet still remained tender. Escargots are capped off with puff pastry protecting bubbling pockets of mushroom duxelle and garlic butter, the leftovers of which make for an incredible spread on the remaining focaccia. I rarely rave about a salad, but I look forward to the goat cheese salad every year. The simple combination of peppery arugula and baby greens balances the crunch of walnuts and the rich, creaminess of goat cheese with tart sections of grapefruit.

Entrees are straight forward, maybe too much so. Truffle mashed potatoes and asparagus are fine and dandy, but their recurring appearances with other dishes show that the kitchen just does not pay much attention to side dishes. An 8 bone rack of lamb is coated with Dijon mustard, rosemary pesto, and bread crumbs to create a crust that protects a rosy red center, each slice of which is dragged through a demi-glace infused with port and mint. I sampled the butter poached lobster across the table, and I thought the crustacean was cooked perfectly. On my past visits I have had excellent luck with both the whole crispy flounder and paneed fish with creole meuniere and jalapeno hollandaise, but those will have to wait till next year.

All was washed down with several gin and tonics, 2 bottles of a smoky Aglianico, and plenty of laughter. As fine a Christmas luncheon as any.

Christmas at The Pelican Club - Birdie
312 Exchange Place
(504) 523-1504
Lunch: Friday 12/23 and 12/30; Dinner Nightly

The Pelican Club

Christmas connotes different traditions for everyone. For the last several years, the season has marked my annual visit to The Pelican Club for their Reveillon Dinner. There is just something about the stroll down Exchange Alley on a cold night, then ducking into this well hidden (but expansive) restaurant with walls adorned with paintings borrowed from Michalopoulos next door. When making reservations, I suggest you request the main dining room fronting Bienville, lest you get seated in the middle room at a banquette cramped between two tables of obnoxious law students who preface every comment with, "Well, in law school...."

But that's another post for another time.

The meal starts with a potage of your choice, and I am sad to say that my turtle soup was pitifully bland. Thankfully this was the only disappointing course of the night. The Folk Singer, who opted for a la carte service instead of the full blown Reveillon menu, began her dinner with crab and cauliflower ravioli in a mushroom and green peppercorn cream sauce. She defended her plate as if it were the Alamo, but the minuscule bite that I stole was still enough evidence for me to affirm her selfishness. My second course was the above pictured quail over stilton grits and ladled with a sautte of shitakes and foie gras in marsala wine. The flavor of the cheese was not prominent in the grits, but this misstep quickly faded into the background once I sampled the tender bird coupled with the slightly sweet and rich sauce.

A quick sidenote before we move on: I was borderline angry that the goat cheese salad was absent from the menu on our visit. The creamy olive oil dressing which coats those greens is downright addictive. I hope it makes a return appearance next year. Moving on.

For the main event, TFS had the seared tuna salad. Out of place? Perhaps. But unmistakably delicious, due in no small part to the sashimi grade tuna which was better than what I have eaten in any sushi bar over the past year. For me, the Trio of Duckling, which looking back now is a surprise because the online menu lists the Duck Two Ways. No matter. The trifecta de canard included a pan seared breast, confit of leg quarter, and BBQ duck in the style of Texas BBQ beef. In order of goodness I would rank the confit first, followed by the breast, and then the BBQ duck, whose flavor was lost in the overpowering tomato base of the sauce.

Dessert was an exquisite white and dark chocolate bread pudding with Makers Mark eggnog sauce.

The Pelican Club is probably the most forgotten restaurant in the French Quarter. You can conduct your own experiment by telling someone that you are going there for dinner, and I can almost guarantee that the response will be, "Oh, I love The Pelican Club. But I have not been there in years, and we never think to go there."

Here is your reminder.

The Pelican Club - Birdie.

Green Goddess Endeavors to Save the Lighthouse

We received this press release recently and wanted to pass along the information. First, if you haven't been to The Green Goddess yet, you need to get over there soon. The weather is cooling off, and it's a delight to sit outside on a Sunday evening and enjoy the sounds of the French Quarter turning from commercial to residential. Plus, the food is out of sight. Finally, any time someone wants to entice us into philanthropy with a drink special, we figure out a way to give them a shout out.

The Green Goddess “Save Our Lighthouse” Party

Hello to all our Internet friends. We want to remind you that we are having a party on this Wednesday evening to benefit Save Our Lake in their efforts to repair the historic Lake Pontchartrain Lighthouse. The party starts Wed. night, from 6-9 pm, with fun food, cocktails, music, speakers from Save Our Lake (which is professionally known as The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation); basically, we’re hosting a big environmental party with Save Our Lake this Wed. night, Oct. 7th in Exchange Alley. You are cordially invited to attend!

Our neighbors at The Pelican Club are joining The Green Goddess in throwing this party, so there will be ample space to get drinks, great food from either restaurant, and the opportunity to buy $2 or $5 raffle tickets to get some cool prizes, including gift certificates, booze, and a few unusual artisanal ingredients.

We also have partnered with Tru Organic Spirits, a California distillery with a terrific environmental program, to raise money the rest of October by featuring Tru liquors in a few cocktails at The Green Goddess, and donating $1 per cocktail to Save Our Lake’s lighthouse repairs. Thus far, we’ve raised over $150 for these critical repairs, and we hope by hosting this big party on this Wed. night, along with all the rest of the month including Halloween festivities, that we can raise a bunch more money for Save Our Lake. Additionally, Tru Organic Spirits and their local distributor, Uncorked Wines, are donating $2 per bottle of Tru Organic Vodka (in 3 flavors, regular, lemon, and vanilla – all painstakingly handcrafted) and the Tru Organic Gin (a cool, infused gin with a unique flavor profile) for each bottle sold in the greater New Orleans market to Save Our Lake.

I hope you’ll be able to pop in for a visit to either The Green Goddess or Pelican Club on this Wednesday night, Oct 7 from 6-9 pm, as we celebrate with Save Our Lake for a sustainable, beautiful environmental legacy here in New Orleans and all of South Louisiana. We’re making it easy to be green: just enjoy a libation, buy a raffle ticket, and enjoy dinner this Wednesday, and keep enjoying our handcrafted cocktails all the way through Halloween.

Thanks for your attention,
Chef Chris DeBarr