I've missed you. In the month since The Times-Picayune newsroom that I worked in was dissolved, I've been itching to write again about restaurants. At my new job with the USA Today Network, I'll be covering food in New Orleans, Cajun Country and the broader South. That work will be aimed at a regional and national audience. We launch in September. So to scratch my New Orleans dining scene itch, I created this newsletter to continue several of the most popular features I did at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.
Tell me if you like it. Tell me if you don't. I've got thick skin and appreciate feedback: Todd@FoodKrewe.com. And tell your friends to join the Food Krewe.
Where to Eat Now in New Orleans (and beyond)
Gianna
At Gianna, the pleasures are simple. The vaguely luxurious contemporary decor could be on any corner in America. What makes an impression at the new Italian restaurant is the humble confidence of the cooking. Rebecca Wilcomb, who previously ran Herbsaint's kitchen, draws on her family's Italian heritage with dishes like comforting peppers stuffed with tuna, caponata with a murmur of heat and meaty hunks of eggplant (pictured) or the bright, earthy browned veal piccata. Gianna is another reminder that food need not be fancy to be memorable.
700 Magazine St., New Orleans, 504.399.0816
Belle Fouchette
The sign outside said clearly that this West Bank Haitian restaurant opened for lunch at noon. When we walked in at 12:05, the woman behind the counter in the empty space told us to return at 1 p.m. We almost didn't. An hour later, two men were eating at the bar, and they helpfully shouted our order back to the kitchen in Creole French. Minutes later, our table was filled with black bean soup, starchy plantains, oxtail in a rich broth (pictured) and griot, or fried pork, that was tender, fatty and crisp like burnt ends. The longer we stayed, and the more we ate, the friendlier the women from the kitchen became. We got the feeling they would welcome us back when we return -- and we will. First, though, I’m going to learn some greetings in Creole French.
435 Wall Blvd., Gretna, 504.331.2683
Laura’s II
The kitchen at Laura's II in Lafayette has a different rhythm. Overseen by third generation owner Madonna Broussard and her daughter, Lacey, most dishes take hours, or even all day, to cook. Instead of the frenzied chopping and prep you find at most restaurants, here the morning routine is about waiting -- for okra to smother, for peppers and onions to cook down for the chicken fricassee, for turkey wings stuffed with garlic and spice to braise until they fall apart. No matter your pick from the daily specials in the row of steam trays, every order comes with rice drowned in a sticky, roux-based gravy. When they ask how much gravy you want, just say, "A lot."
1904 W. University Ave., Lafayette, 337.593.8006
Luvi
I hate truffle oil. It's what bad restaurants add to look fancy and upcharge. The pungent flavor lingers for hours. Despite all that, I ordered Luvi's Pagoda with raw white fish, cucumber, yuzu and (gulp) truffle oil. I should have trusted Hao Gong, Luvi's chef and owner. His food is singular, riffing on his childhood in Shanghai and his years in Japanese restaurants. His control of flavor is precise. On the Pagoda, he used the truffle oil to add a tinge of funk. It didn't change my opinion of truffle oil, but it deepened my appreciation of Luvi. Each meal brings new delights and the familiar dishes are now favorites. Without a doubt, Luvi is one of the best new restaurants to open in New Orleans last year. (Pagoda photo courtesy Luvi)
5236 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, 504.605.3340
Barracuda
Several slightly upscale taquerias opened this summer. This is my current favorite. The al pastor had enough pineapple sweetness to balance the heat. The tortillas are made in house (opt for the blue corn instead of flour). Just a dollop of the asphalt black salsa macha brings a blowtorch of heat. With the fans and shade, I didn't even mind on an August afternoon when all the tables were outside.
3984 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, 504.266.2961
Hot Links
Thalia, the new restaurant from Kristen Essig and Michael Stoltzfus of Coquette, opened Tuesday. Writing for Garden & Gun, Jenny Adams takes the measure of the new neighborhood restaurant (and even has a recipe). "That smaller footprint allows us to lower the cost on everything and to use every single thing that we buy. We built the menu for Thalia around the trimmings from Coquette," Essig said. (Full disclosure: I attended a preview dinner at Thalia, where none of the guests were charged for food.)
Mario Suazo, with his shaggy mustache, has been tending bar at The Napoleon House since 2001. According to a profile in Punch by Robert Simonson, he goes through a case of Pimm's each day.
Was Mike Frolich the Michelangelo of the 9th Ward? The Oxford American makes the case that the untrained artist who decorated the Saturn Bar on St. Claude Avenue should be better recognized for his art.
Wet batter battle
For decades, Willie Mae's Scotch House was pretty much the only wet-battered fried chicken in town. At Willie Mae's, the technique leads to a bird with a craggily crust that would require a relief map to chart its contours. In July, Gus's World Famous Chicken out of Memphis arrived in the Warehouse District with its own wet-battered bird. The name may be a braggadocious, but judging by the eager reaction of many friends this Memphis chicken chain is certainly famous across the country.
How do the two compare? Willie Mae's has always ranked among my five favorites in New Orleans. On a visit in July, the fried bird was crunchy and well-seasoned but a bit greasy. Gus's was crisper and spicier. I give the newcomer the edge. But wait! A meal is not only about the bird. The sides at Gus's were uniformly sad: bland greens, watery slaw and candy-sweet beans. At Willie Mae's, I got a big bowl of white beans as good as you could want. So let's call it a draw. (Pictured: a dark meat plate from Gus's.)
Willie Mae's
2401 St Ann St., New Orleans, 504.822.9503
Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken
308 S. Diamond St., New Orleans, 504.252.4870
Bites from the Past
The men look like conductors. The hand-written note on the photo says Terminal Cafe, and — in smudged letters — May 11, 1911. The address written in the margin puts the bar between Basin and Crozat streets, on the edge of Storyville, the zone where prostitution was legal from 1897 to 1917, and near the Kraus Building. According to historian Al Rosen, the bar was the "gateway to Storyville."
May 11, 1911 photo from Tulane University’s Louisiana image collection. (Thanks to Richard Campanella, James Karst and Brian Huff for helping me unravel the bar's history.)