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Tuesday, June 23, 2015.
Nathan's. One of the sales guys at the radio station asked me whether I would voice commercials for Nathan's in Slidell. I am unusually lucky to have veto power over which commercials are on my show. I also have total control over what I say in the spots. It's been quite some time since the last time I dined at Nathan's, and I felt I'd better take a look at the place before getting behind it again. We arrive in Slidell at what I suspect is the worst possible time. Dinner on Tuesday is slow, especially in summer. One of the waiters knows me, but if owner/chef Ross Eirich is aware that I was in the house-and I didn't think he is-he doesn't let on until the end. I am also fortunate in that Mary Ann, having nothing in particular to do, comes along. Neither of the Marys like going to Slidell for dinner. We wind up taking a much more interesting dinner than if I'd come alone. This is our first time in a new dining room at Nathan's. The space used to be an open balcony, overlooking Bayou Bonfouca. Now it's completely enclosed. The view remains, by way of many large windows.
Snapper throats at Nathan's.
The menu has come a long way since our last time. Snapper throats is one of the new things. I haven't seen that in any local restaurant since the days of the old Beacon on South Claiborne and Napoleon Avenue. Snapper throats (also known as breasts) are the part of the fish just below and to the rear of the gills. In Europe, it's considered the best part of the fish, and if a whole fish is served without the throats, the customer has the right to shake his fist. The meat is firm, white, and good. The throats that Chef Ross serves here are different from the Beacon's in being cooked in a skillet with a buttery, crab-meaty sauce. It's kind of a mess to eat, but worth the effort.
Soft-shell crab martini.
Mary Ann goes after a more elegant catch, made of a medium soft-shell crab served in a martini glass. (That, of course, make the dish a soft-shell crab martini.) A little sweet heat is going on here, and it's delicious and crisp. 
The great dish of the night is a slab of cobia seared in a pan and then served with a pile of pasta Alfredo. Rich and filling.
Short ribs at Nathan's.
Nathan's strength is in its seafood, but they also have much else. Mary Ann found some short ribs-a favorite of hers, with fall-off-the-bone meat and a chunky brown gravy that would have made an excellent roast beef poor boy.
Elegant bread pudding.
We end up with a very good muffin of bread pudding. I get it all, because MA says that bread pudding has a texture problem. I wonder how much bread pudding I have consumed because of her dislike it if. I thank her for that little thing. Nathan's. Slidell: 36440 Old Bayou Liberty Rd. 985-643-0443. 
Dozen Most Underrated Restaurants Rated by whom? That's a problem. Very few real critics are out there giving ratings of New Orleans restaurants. Most ratings now come from readers, each of whom have a different system, so that three stars can mean anything from very good to terrible. So maybe we'd better rename this endeavor The Dozen Most Under-Appreciated Restaurants. The meaning is clear. These are the eateries whose cooking, service, wine and other indexes of excellence are much better than their reputations or volume might imply. The word that seems most to apply here is prejudice. Not the racial kind, of course, but the set of preferences each one of us has. For example, I have a thing against restaurants without tablecloths. I admit that the lack has no real bearing on the goodness of the food, but I must adjust my reviews and ratings to account for the effect of a missing or present tablecloth. Here are some of the elements that engender negative prejudices against the restaurants that have them. All are meaningless as regards how good the dining actually is.
Spanish food (not Mexican! That's okay)
There's only one good side to this effect, and it only benefits the customers. You can get a seat in an underrated restaurant easier than in one of the same quality that is not subject to prejudices. Of course, it's not a good thing for the restaurateurs involved. One more generality. What causes a restaurant to be under- or overrated varies tremendously from one diner to another. I love Spanish food. And I'm an older person myself.
Duck at Tomas Bistro.
1.  Tomas Bistro. Warehouse District & Center City: 755 Tchoupitoulas. 504-527-0942. There's an off-chance that the fine dining category of New Orleans restaurants-which has fallen on hard times across America in recent years-may well be on the verge of a renaissance. I put forth Tomas Bistro as a case in point. The cooking is very hip-you will find many good dishes you never imagined before. But one need not dress to the nines, and the kitchen is so ambitious in its presentations that the whole package is quite a thrill in the eating. Tommy Andrade runs this place much differently than the way he does Tommy's across the street. Even though it's only a few years old, it seems like a wonderful relic from another time. 
2. Atchafalaya. Uptown 2: Washington To Napoleon: 901 Louisiana Ave. 504-891-9626. "New Orleans's Only Five-A Restaurant" (as the owners call it) is far from underrated by its regulars, who keep the place full nightly. But those who haven't tried it will find the eating far better than the premises might suggest. But these are times when a beat-up old place is the preferred dining venue for many. The explanation for the goodness is shared by Chef Christopher Lynch and owners Rachel Jaffe and Tony Tocco, who know what the local palate is all about. 
3. Apolline. Uptown 3: Napoleon To Audubon: 4729 Magazine St. 504-894-8881. Operating in the decades-old tradition of the Uptown gourmet bistro, Apolline is a clever, handsome reworking of a fine old Creole cottage. Its original fireplaces rise through the middle of the main dining room like columns, with candles completing the antique effect. The food leans in the direction of the current American culinary repertoire, with incursions of Creole ingredients and pepper levels. Chef Matthew Farmer's menu seems abbreviated, but you always find something here you've not tried before.
Raw oysters.
4. Marti's. French Quarter: 1041 Dumaine. 504-522-5478. The old Marti's was so good that it's a shame it was forgotten for so long, while other restaurants took over the building. After two years, owner Patrick Singley (he also owns Gautreau's) has retored the old Marti's style, while keeping it up to date. If the old Marti's had lived on, it would be exactly like the new Marti's. The cooking and raw materials are decidedly local, with a scattering of Italian touches. Great oysters. 
5. Redemption. Mid-City: 3835 Iberville St. 504-309-3570. Everything about the restaurant that took over where Christian's left off (Katrina) would seem to indicate immediate and immense popularity. It didn't happen when it became Redemption in 2010, it took two renovations and kitchen overhauls for the place ti finally click. The 100-year-old church building is beautiful, and Chef Greg Picolo (remember his long tenure at the Bistro at the Maison de Ville? I do) is cooking as well as ever in his long career. 
6.  Ristorante Filippo. Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd: 1917 Ridgelake. 504-835-4008. This is a little restaurant that has hosted many other little restaurants over the decades. All of them presented their customers with a puzzle: you can see the place from Causeway Blvd. in Metairie, but it's hard to figure out how to get there. But enough people have solved this that it's always busy. Chef-owner Phil Gagliano says that his food is the correct, traditional Sicilian way of cooking. His food is different from that of the many other Creole-Sicilian cooks around town. The red sauces are subtle, and the reliance on olive oil, garlic and herbs is more emphatic. The flavors are big, perhaps because the aromas are alluring. Even elementary matters like the Italian salad and veal piccata come out captivating. Not to be missed: the oysters areganata. 
7. Peppermill. Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd: 3524 Severn Ave. 504-455-2266. For years, the Peppermill has seemed to be on the verge of a new era of popularity, like the one it enjoyed in the 1970s. It remains under-appreciated for a ridiculous reason: young diners write it off as an old-folks place. That is not true of the Creole-Italian cooking, which is not only very good but a great value. During the past year or so, the Peppermill has become even better. 8. Cafe Minh. Mid-City: 4139 Canal. 504-482-6266. It's a Vietnamese restaurant, but in an unmistakeably New Orleans style. Owner Minh Bui-who came here after a hair-raising emigration from his homeland-began his career as a waiter at Commander's Palace. So he knows what serious dining is about. He is also creative enough to fill his classy little restaurant with fascinating flavors. 9. Christopher's On Carey. Slidell: 2228 Carey St. 985-641-4501. Slidell can't seem to collect more than a few really good restaurants. That makes a lot of people give a dubious eye to the idea of eating there. Christopher's on Carey is one of the few that could survive on the south shore. Chef-owner Christopher Case purveys a somewhat old-style menu, but it fits right into the Victorian premises. The quality of the raw materials is top-notch, especially as regards the fish. Prices are a bargain. 10. Santa Fe. Esplanade Ridge: 3201 Esplanade Ave. 504-948-0077. It's tough for a restaurant with a vast clientele of regulars to hold onto them after new owners take over. Almost by definition, every change-even good ones-are damned as having ruined the restaurant. This relocated Santa Fe is at least as good as the Marigny original, if you ask me. One big way: much of the menu isn't Mexican at all, giving a tremendous range to the kitchen. The sidewalk tables are the best of any New Orleans restaurants'. 11. Meauxbar. French Quarter: 942 N Rampart. 504-569-9979. There have been two restaurants called Meauxbar, different from one another in most ways except one: it never was a bar but a full-fledged restaurant with a French accent. (There is a small bar, mainly for waiting for a table.) The the current Meauxbar is really the rebirth of Ste. Marie, which originally was on Poydras Street with a Creole-French menu. The move has been good for the food here. And the location across the street from the Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing Arts is ideal. 12. Mais Arepas. Warehouse District & Center City: 1200 Carondelet St. 504-523-6247. Like a lot of restaurants with unusual themes, Mais Arepas had everybody talking when it first opened. Now that it's evolved into a really find kitchen for Central and South American eats, most of the buzz is audible in the dining room. Everybody there is expresses admiration bite by bite. Arepas are the tortillas of Colombia, made with more or less the same cornmeal masa that also makes soft corn tortillas for Mexican tacos, but much thicker-about a quarter inch or more. They're grilled and used to make sandwiches of almost anything you can think of, with the emphasis on grilled meats. And the menu goes on from there, deliciously. 
Creme Brulee Creme brulee appeared in New Orleans in the early 1980s (Arnaud's served the first one), and over the years it supplanted the once-universal caramel custard. It's now on almost every non-Asian menu. The difference between creme brulee and caramel custard is that the former is made with cream and has the sugar crusted on top; the latter is made with milk and has sugar caramelized into a syrup at the bottom of the baking cup. Creme brulee must be baked very carefully and slowly, or it will not reach its proper perfect semi-flowing state. You can't do it in standard custard cups; much better are shallow (an inch or so deep) glass or ceramic ramekins or au gratin dishes. They also have to be straight-sided, so there's no thin rim of custard to burn when you blast the sugar topping. 
It is also essential to insulate the bottoms of the dishes from the pan they're sitting on. Those air-insulated baking pans work well. If you don't have one, you can get the same effect by setting a wet dishtowel in the bottom. I strongly recommend you get hold of Ronald Reginald's Vanilla Bean Marinade for this. It's a great vanilla created by Chef Warren LeRuth and made here in New Orleans. The actual vanilla beans in the bottle not only give flavor but those appealing vanilla bean flecks.
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 quart whipping cream
- 9 large egg yolks
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbs. Ronald Reginald's Vanilla Bean Marinade (or some other top-class, powerful vanilla)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 1. The first step is not essential, but does give an extra measure of elegance. Spread the brown sugar out, breaking all the lumps, on a big plate. Put it into the microwave oven for 10 minutes at 10 percent power, then let it cool for 30 minutes. This will remove the excess moisture from the brown sugar and keep it from turning to syrup when you blast it later. 2. Combine 1/4 cup of cream and the egg yolks in a metal bowl, and whisk to blend well. Stir in the sugar until nearly dissolved. 3. Put the rest of the cream into a small saucepan and heat it over medium heat until wisps of steam start appearing. (Don't boil even a little.) 4. Add the vanilla to the warm cream. Stir, then pour the warm cream slowly into the metal bowl while whisking. 5. Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a large measuring cup. Pour the custard into the baking dishes. 6. Pour hot water into the pan until it's halfway up the sides of the baking dishes. Put the pan into the preheated 325-degree oven and bake for 30 minutes. Depending on what dishes you're using, it may take as long as another 15 minutes. The custard should be set but not solid. 8. Remove the dishes from the pan and set out to cool for a half hour, then refrigerate for at least three hours, or as long as a day. 9. When ready to serve, preheat the broiler. (Or the broil feature of your toaster oven, which works better for this than you might imagine.) Sprinkle enough brown sugar on top of each custard to completely cover, and run them under the broiler for about 30 seconds-until the sugar melts. You might want to turn the dishes so that this happens uniformly. Serves eight. 
Double-Cut Pork Chop @ Nola 
The double-cut pork chop-an item absolutely unknown to New Orleans restaurant menus until about ten years ago-has become one of the most popular entrees around town. There are many good ones, and if you think you've found the best, by all means keep eating it. But consider the one at Nola, Emeril's most casual restaurant. Two aspects of it appeal greatly. First, the crusty, Creole-seasoned exterior. Second, the highly reduced, almost sticky pork glace that blend with caramelized onions to make the sauce. I like the garnish, too: Bourbon-flavored sweet potatoes, and shrimp and pecan relish. The best dish in the house, and the best pork chop in town.
Nola. French Quarter: 534 St. Louis. 504-522-6652. This is among the 500 best dishes in New Orleans area restaurants. Click here for a list of the other 499. 
Days Until. . . Fourth Of July 4 Today's Flavor  Today is National Ice Cream Soda Day. This sounds like one of those hot dogs-apple pie-baseball kinds of things, but when's the last time you had an ice cream soda? Even ice cream parlors rarely have them anymore. The reason: the lack of the kind of soda fountain making an ice cream soda requires. It mixed carbon dioxide with water, then shoots it in a thin, string stream into the other soda ingredients. And that you don't see too much since around 1980.
Here in New Orleans, an ice cream soda is very likely to be a nectar soda. The flavor "nectar" is unique to this city. A pink syrup best known these days as a sno-ball flavor, it blends the flavors of almond and vanilla with a little citric acid to produce a distinctive and delicious hybrid. Gourmet Gazetteer Sassafras, Maryland is a rural crossroads in the northeastern corner of the state, eighty-two miles east of Baltimore by road but only about fifty air miles away. Chesapeake Bay is in the way. The nearby Sassafras River is an upper reach of the bay. So is Herring Branch, a tributary of the Sassafras on the south side of the community. The name gets its name from the tree, which grows in substantial numbers along the streams. To find the nearest restaurant, walk along the south side of the Sassafras River for four miles to the Kitty Knight House in Galena. Edible Dictionary John Dory, n.-An edible fish found from the Atlantic coast of Europe, England and Africa across the Indian Ocean. It is particularly prized as a food fish in Australia and New Zealand. It's a funny-looking species, with a nearly round body when seen from the side and long, threatening spines along its back. It has a large eye-like spot on either side which is said to confuse both its prey and predators. The ones caught for consumption weigh between two and seven pounds. However, the yield of the tender, white fillets is a small percentage of the weight of the whole fish. So it tends to be on the expensive side. A lot of what's sold as John Dory isn't, really. It's best sauteed, poached, or broiled. Nobody's exactly sure where the name came from, but it may be Anglicized French. Food Inventions Today in 1896, James Hadaway received a patent for the first electric stove. Electric stoves are roundly derided by those who cook with gas, and there's no doubt that gas is preferable. However, those of us who are forced by circumstances to cook on electric stovetops soon learn to adapt to its operating quirks. I am one of these unfortunates, and I'd say that I cook as well on an electric element as I could on gas. The worst problem: skillets and saucepans must have absolutely flat bottoms. As for electric ovens, I prefer them to gas. Deft Dining Rule #188 The best table in most restaurants is the one that's most isolated one in the main dining room, especially if it's next to a window. Music To Drink Martinis By Frank Sinatra's career went into high gear today in 1939, when he made his first appearance with the Harry James orchestra. Harry James discovered a lot of great talent. He was also the great-uncle of Clark, the Gourmet Truck Driver, a regular visitor to my radio show. Annals Of Food Research The Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act were signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt. It was the first time any serious standards were brought to bear on the food supply in this country. Although its effect was overwhelmingly salubrious, it did ultimately remove from the market certain gourmet items that involve an above-average risk. A modern example of that would be raw milk and cheeses made from it. Eating Around The World Today in 1755, the government of the Philippines-which was more or less controlled by that of Mexico and, in turn, by Spain-declared that all Chinese food vendors owned by non-Catholics (which would be most of them) must close. It was the Far Eastern version of the Inquisition. Food Namesakes Shirley Fry, an Australian tennis player who won her share of the major tournaments, was born today in 1927. . . On this date in 1967, Cookie Rojas pitched in relief for the Phillies. Afterwards, he could say that he'd played all nine positions on the team. . . Frankie Lymon of the rock group the Teenagers was born today in 1942. Later they would make Sprite out of his namesake fruit. Words To Eat By "Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos."-Don Kardong, writer and running enthusiast. Words To Drink By "Man being reasonable must get drunk;
The best of life is but intoxication;
Glory, the grape, love, gold-in these are sunk
The hopes of all men and of every nation"
-Lord Byron. 
Existential Dining #540w8 The setting is World War II, Pacific Theater. Otherwise, it sounds a lot like now. Click here for the cartoon. |
