Sylvain

Photo by renee b. photography.

Last week Rene and I were involved in an email discussion with a PR person about recent restaurant openings around town and why certain spots are touted more than others in the national and local media.

"I want to know why people think Sylvain is the best thing since sliced bread," he said. "I've been there - dig the atmosphere, the food's solid, but not something I'd write home about."

The fact that he brought up Sylvain was quite coincidental, considering that the Quarter gastropub/restaurant was the subject of our Dining Out column in this month's issue of OffBeat Magazine, which had just hit the presses a few days before.

The reasons that we chose to review Sylvain for this particular month are indicative of its popularity, in my opinion. April, as we all know, is the time of year when the Vieux Carre swells to capacity with tourists and locals packing the streets for the long Easter weekend, French Quarter Fest, multiple conventions, and Jazz Fest evening celebrations. Anticipating these crowds, our editor always encourages us to choose a restaurant in the Quarter to review for April issue. And considering the state of mind (sunburn and inebriated) and dress (shorts and sandals) of most potential restaurant patrons during this time of year, we seek out more casual spots in the Quarter befitting of the typical reader.

The problem is: How many casual restaurants in the Quarter offer food worth writing about? When you are too dressed down to dine at Bayona or Galatoire's but not drunk enough to consider eating at the River's Edge or Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company, what are your choices?

In recent years several restaurants have stepped up to fill in this gap in the French Quarter dining scene - Green Goddess, El Gato Negro, and Sylvain, to name a few. The fact that all of the above examples offer menus which do not include gumbo, jambalaya, or shrimp remoulade is further justification that not every diner is in search of typical creole fare. But they all serve solid (or in Green Goddess' case, borderline excellent) food at reasonable prices in a unique and interesting atmosphere.

Not exactly a shocking recipe for success.

Sylvain
625 Chartres Street
(504) 265-8123
Mon-Thur: 5:30pm-11:00pm
Fri-Sat: 11:30am-2:30pm; 5:30pm-12:00pm
Sun: 10:30am-2:30pm (Brunch); 5:30pm-10:00pm

Dining Al Fresco

The courtyard at Martinique Bistro.

Although it's a rainy Monday morning, these past 2 weekends of beautiful weather have proven that Spring has begun, and with it the countdown has started on the fleeting outdoor dining season. When the sun is shining and the mercury reads 75° or lower, any time spent indoors seems like a missed opportunity, and that includes time spent eating.

Most of my outdoor dining is done on Saturday or Sunday during lunch, and at those times I usually have zero motivation to dress well enough to enjoy the setting of Commander's courtyard or the patio behind Bayona. Luckily, there are plenty of options casual enough to only require throwing on a pair of jeans.

Two weeks ago when I walked my dog through Exchange Alley, I could not believe how many tables The Green Goddess had set up outside. There had to be at least 40 diners enjoying Sunday brunch in the sun, and another 20 or so waiting patiently for the next available table. A few blocks away at Sylvain, the rear courtyard is usually full at all times, and that particular day was no exception. Headed toward Uptown, Martinique is always one of the first restaurants that come to mind during this time of year and is on a surprisingly short list restaurants that offers lunch/brunch on Saturday. Dante's Kitchen is also in that category, as is St. James Cheese Company, which is probably my favorite spot in the city for an outdoor lunch on Saturday.

What are restaurants to do when people are anxious to eat outside but they have no courtyard or patio? Throw a few tables out on the sidewalk, of course. La Petite Grocery and Coquette both offer front row seating to Magazine Street. The sidewalk tables at Cochon are usually full on almost every night during dinner. And although its not open for lunch on the weekends, it seems remiss to write about great outdoor dining spots without mentioning Herbsaint.

Yesterday as I drove down Freret Street, I noticed that Company Burger had set up picnic tables outside, and I had to appreciate the great lengths that restaurateurs will go to accomodate our ever so short al fresco dining season. Whether you are dining on Shrimp Henican in the courtyard at Commander's or scarfing down a roast beef po-boy on a white picnic table in the back parking lot at Parkway Bakery, be thankful that you are enjoying it while you can.

Cooking With Wine

a heavy bottle of red wine

brought up from the cold basement

in a basket of white laundry

 William Carlos Williams

Welcome to the last Cooking With Wine. Studies have shown that people with the name Anonymous absolutely hated this series, while the rest of you just seemed to tolerate it. But that is ok. I enjoyed it and until and unless this jobby starts making us some serious money, the guiding principle around here will be if we enjoy it, we do it.

Mad Max's last selection is another from the Highway 12 portfolio, this time the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is 100% Cabernet, with a dark, intense color providing the foreshadowing for dark berries and soft French oak nuances. The silky mouthfeel gives way to aggressive tannins - this is a big, bold wine. Which is why, with final chill of winter in the air, it seemed the perfect time to make a hearty beef stew. The wine retails for around $20, and you can find it at Swirl, Sylvain, Theo's, Dick and Jenny's, and Elio's.

Oxtail and Beef Stew

Braising gives the occasional cook a margin of error wider than the headwaters of the Mississippi. For this beef stew, I like to use two cuts of beef- the gelatinous, sticky oxtails and what is commonly sold as beef stew meat. The oxtails allow a rich, lip smacking sauce to develop while the beef stew meat provides enough tender, shredded meat to go around the table. I like to use bacon grease as my lipid of choice, mostly because bacon is the new black this award season.

Preheat an oven to 300 degrees.

In a large dutch oven, heat enough oil or bacon fat to coat the entire pan in a quarter inch layer of lipid. Meanwhile, pat the oxtails and beef stew meat dry with a paper towel. The dryer you get the meat, the better the sear. The better the sear, the better the stew. Coat the meat with salt and sear in batches until well browned. Once browned remove from heat.

After browning all the meat, toss in an onion, two celery sticks, and two carrots, all coarsely chopped. Sweat for around eight minutes. Then add, a tablespoon of tomato paste. Let this color - you are looking for a dark rust color. Once the roots are rusted, add some salt and pepper, a bay leaf, and a few sprigs of thyme. Now add one whole bottle of decent red wine. Bring to just under a boil, return the meat to the pan, cover, and pop in the oven.

You want to cook this for about three hours or until the meat of the oxtails falls off the bone easily. It is better to overcook here (hardly possible) than undercook. Meanwhile, trim a two cups of green beans, cut them in half, and blanch in boiling, salted water. When done, plunge in ice water. Once cool, drain, and dry on paper towels. Now, peel and slice two carrots into half inch thick rounds and treat just like you did the green beans. Finally, slice some mushrooms of your choosing and saute on high heat in a well buttered pan. Once browned, add in some chopped garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir and remove from the heat.

I want you to remove the meat from the braising liquid. I realize this is sort of time intensive, but it is worth it. Then strain the braising liquid and reserve. (The leftover detritus of carrots, celery, onion, and shreds of meat is best with a sprinkle of chunky sea salt and eaten on crisp rounds of crusty bread or by the spoonful.)

Now, combine the meat with the strained sauce, the green beans, carrots, and mushrooms, and warm through. Taste. Adjust seasoning and serve in a big wide bowl. I topped mine with a gremolata - a fine dice- of preserved lemon, parsley, and garlic.

The Beet Goes On

The moment of reckoning finally arrived in sixth grade. The science fair. Every grammar student's (and parent's) worst nightmare. In the world which existed before wikipedia and google provided the solution to every problem, choosing a science fair project took hours of thumbing through encyclopedias and multiple trips to the public library to browse through periodicals for ideas to steal. And to raise the level of competition just a bit higher, the science fair was the only school project where it was both acceptable and expected for the parents to actively participate. Figuring out who had a doctor for a parent was simple - just look for the kid whose science project was entitled "A Thesis on the Causes of Chronic Pulmonary Problems in the Post-Industrial Era."

After 4 months of painstaking research, internal debate, and much procrastination, I finally decided on the subject of my science fair project approximately 36 hours before the deadline. "Natural Dyes" was the title. Basically, I made coloring agents out of different plants and wrote up a few blurbs about how the natural stuff was just as effective as synthetic paints. Remember what I said about parents assisting children with their projects? Yeah, well when I was in sixth grade, my Mom worked in sales for an upholstery cleaning company. A PhD was not required to understand that a coffee stain is, for all intensive purposes, a stain for life.

I never cared much for science class, and I did not win an award for my opus on the power of natural dyes. (I  believe that the first place ribbon went to 1 of the 15 geniuses who discovered that baking soda + vinegar = volcano eruption). However, one factoid I will always remember from my science project is this: Beets will stain your fingers for about 8 days if you are not careful. But it never really occurred to me that those blood red root veggies might actually be worth eating.

My first experience with beets as food occurred on a trip to Piccadilly, an episode which caused me to suffer with PTSD for the better part of a decade. In the last few years though, I have come to appreciate beets as a delectable delicacy, and lately there has been no shortage of opportunities to indulge. I would guesstimate that close to a third of the ambitious restaurants around town serve a dish which matches sweet roasted beets with a salty cheese. There is the roasted beet bruschetta with goat cheese at Sylvain, the burrata and beet salad at Herbsaint, and the beet and ricotta ravioli at Meauxbar. The popularity of the combination is a testament to it's success, and all of the above are delicious and worth ordering.

One of my favorite uses of beets was at La Petite Grocery, where Chef Justin Devillier used chilled roasted beets and thinly sliced pickled onion as a foundation for cold crabmeat salad spiked with horseradish. Just a phenomenal dish, whose flavors touched upon sweet, sour, spicy, and richness. Unfortunately, that dish is not a part of the current menu at La Petite, but I see that you can still get your beet fix with a salad also featuring arugula, toasted pecans, local citrus, and cane vinegar.

It probably comes as no surprise that my current favorite beet dish in the city comes from the kitchen of Alon Shaya at Domenica. The winter vegetable pizza: roasted yellow beets and carrots scattered with a little goat cheese upon that ethereal crust which just keeps getting better every time I try it. Simple and sublime.

So where are you getting your beet fix?

Winesday

Rene: First whiff of the wine smells like cinnamon and a humidor. On the palate, this wine is heavy but flighty, jumping from spicy flavors to the almost overwhelming taste of cherries. This is a very smooth wine that would be perfect in front on a fireplace after a long meal. Unfortunately, it rarely gets cold in enough in New Orleans for a fireplace. This wine wants grilled lamb, but something with more bite than simple lamb chops. How about the grilled lamb ribs from Patois. That'll do.

Peter: This wine is rich but not overly tannic, with a slight burn down the back of the throat (Ed. Note: Say to yourself, "That's what she said"). The first flavor profile that comes to mind is cocoa. Thinking red meat (shocker, I know). Had a few veal and beef cheek dishes lately, thinking of the one from Sylvain that is the dinner menu.

Joe the Wine Guy: With great structure, depth, and concentration, the 2006 Three Palms Vineyard Merlot from Sterling Vineyards is intense with ripe black cherry aromas and expansive flavors. On the palate you get mineral, mocha, spices, rose and toasty oak. You can find it at the Renaissance Arts Hotel and Mandina's; this wine retails for around $30.

Cooking With Wine

In the last few years, Brussels sprouts have emerged as one of the favorite vegetables in our house. Sometimes we roast them with bacon, garlic, and salt, other times we blanch them before slicing them in half and slowly caramelizing in brown butter and finishing it with shallot and lemon. For the last few weeks, Lindsay has been raving about the shaved Brussels sprouts salad at Sylvain and asking me to make something like that.

When Mad Max dropped off a substantial white wine with notes of lemon, green apple, citrus, and grapefruit my mind immediately went to trying a version of shaved Brussels sprout salad. The 2009 Ribolla Adriatico from Bastianich Wines has a firm minerality and a lot of acid, with just a touch of sweetness at the end. That made me want to incorporate some spice and sesame oil to take the dish in an Asian direction. You can find the wine on the list at Green Goddess, Bacchanal, and Whole Foods, where it retails for under $20.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Slaw with Poached Chicken

The chicken is optional. But if you want to add it, it works best in salads when poached. Bring 6 cups of water up to a simmer, add some cloves, salt, bay leaf, and a half cup of white wine. Add the chicken and simmer for 25 minutes or so.

A mandoline is one way to slice the sprouts into thin rounds. But be careful and it helps to listen to this song while doing it. A food processor with a slicing blade is a much better option. Once your sprouts are shaved, place them in a deep bowl. Thinly slice the radicchio and add this to the Brussels sprouts. Toast about a palmful of slivered almonds until light brown. Add this to the above, along with salt and pepper.

Finely dice the green chili and some garlic (if you have ginger, by all means use it). Place this in a second bowl. To this add some soy sauce, the juice of one lemon, a tablespoon of rice wine vinegar, and a teaspoon of honey (you need the sweetness to counteract the bitterness of the raw radicchio and Brussels sprouts). Whisk. While whisking stream in a about tablespoon of sesame oil, then finish the dressing with olive oil. Taste. Adjust seasoning.

Pour dressing over the Brussels sprouts and radicchio top with poached chicken and mix to combine. Let sit for a few minutes before diving in. Chopsticks or forks are acceptable.

Sylvain

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Hur

If I were a tourist strolling through the Quarter near dusk, stumbling upon a place like Sylvain might seem like divine intervention. Faced with a rather non-descript facade, a stroll through the long and narrow entryway opens into a small, central courtyard that is a perfect setting to share a bottle of wine and appreciate the dichotomy of how you're in the middle of all of the action of the city and yet so far from it at the same time. When the weather is too hot (which seems fast approaching), the interior dining room with tightly packed, candle-lit tables can be equally charming, especially when facing the window so as to watch the street from air-conditioned comfort.

Some say the setting is too perfect - a faux historical replica or a day late and dollar short version of the East Coast hipster trend. Those people are probably smarter than me, a person too dumb to realize what is and is not authentic, but I like the setting all the same.

The food, on the other hand, while enjoyable for the most part, seems generic. Don't get me wrong, quite a few of these dishes fell right into my wheelhouse. Roasted beet bruschetta had sweet, firm chopped beets and a thin smear of goat cheese aboard crusty, crunchy bread; one $10 order consists of a pair, so budget accordingly when sharing. Braised beef cheeks ($20) are sizable hunks of beef that hold intact until the slightest pressure of a fork breaks the beef into lipsmacking hunks. Garlic sausage is coarsley ground, and the room temperature fingerling potato salad formed a nice base with hot and crunchy cabbage on top; my only desire being that the grain mustard reduction packed a larger punch.

All of the above are good eats, but doesn't the menu read like the greatest hits from the last 5 years? It's as if someone devised a menu formula of what worked everywhere else in the restaurant scene around the country and then relocated it all in a historic New Orleans setting. And for the most part, even though I enjoyed each dish, after finishing I usually found myself thinking: "That was good, but I like the [insert similar dish] at [insert other restaurant] better."

But perhaps I am too cynical. If good is good, does it matter that it's unoriginal?

There were a few dishes that I would avoid on my next visit. The shaved brussels sprouts and apple salad was too much crunch and not enough of anything else. The Chick-Syl-vain had a perfectly fried chicken breast with dill pickles - a better replication of Chick-Fil-A, but too monotone for my tastebuds. The resident burger expert in my office (who is a tough critic as he openly admits that MVB falls short of his expectations) said that Sylvain's version has beef ground too fine and lacking flavor. I would have to agree with him - about the latter not the former.

For all of the copycat critique, Sylvain (along with previous ventures like Green Goddess) has broken the mold by offering a French Quarter option that should have been available long ago. It involves a Thursday evening after a long day at work, the welcome seclusion of the courtyard, a couple of cans of Blonde Bombshell or a bottle of prosecco, an order of fries, and a plate of pickled vegetables (cukes, mirliton, and beets). That is one dining experience that Sylvain can claim all its own.

Sylvain - Par/Birdie
625 Chartres Street
(504) 265-8123
Mon-Thur 5:30-11:00
Fri-Sat 11:30-2:30; 5:30-12:00
Sun 10:30-2:30 (Brunch); 5:30-10:00

Winesday

Peter: Some good spice but can still taste the grape. High in alcohol though, which is a shame. How about some braised short ribs from Sylvain or the ridiculously good lasagna from Domenica.

Rene: Powerful oak on the nose, smells like the inside of a barn. Lot of heat in the back of the throat from the alcohol. Don't get very much fruit, just woodsy spice. But wine could stand up to something heavy which makes me want Ian Schnobelein's ravioli with veal cheeks, but since that doesn't seem to be on his menu anymore the rigatoni with oxtail ragout, broccoli, and ricotta at Iris would be a good substitute.

Joe the Wine Guy:  That wine is 2006 Domaine Chandon "La Riviere" Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. It has enticing aromas of cocoa powder, red plum, black cherry, and cedar which are a prelude to flavors of black cherry, dried cranberry, cocoa, and cardamom. It finishes with vanilla bean notes which would be perfect with roast rack of lamb with a fig reduction, or maybe a black truffle risotto, or even with a dessert like Black Forest cake. You can find it at Galatoire's and The Wine Seller and it retails for $45.