Appetites

One of my favorite restaurants pre-Katrina was the Bistro at Maison de Ville. That was certainly due to the food of chef Greg Picolo, but it was also the hospitality of Patrick Van Hoorebeek, the Master of Ceremonies in the tiny dining room. He's a rare dude, as anyone who knows him will attest. He's not one of those obsequious guys who make you nervous when you walk into a new place; on the contrary, he's direct and efficient in his service. But once you get to know him; and you will get to know him if you dine at Peristyle more than twice, he's more than the guy who greets you at the door - he's a friend.

Patrick is now the Maitre'd at Peristyle, which is a pretty good fit for him. It's a larger space, with a generally more ambitious menu. He'll certainly bring a fair number of people with him, which works out for Chef Wolfe. Patrick complained that the larger dining room would keep him in shape, but I think he protested a bit much.

Peristyle is open for lunch on Fridays, and the menu is a choice between two appetizers and two entrees, plus dessert, for $24. On the day my friend and I dined, the menu was as follows:

Appetizers:
foie gras creme brulee with strawberry balsamic jam, brioche toast points and balsamic and pine nut syrup.

bay scallop dumpling in a light asparaguws soup scented with smoked bacon.

Pot au feu - slow braised beef tips with parsnip puree, baby carrots, in a rich veal broth

Peristyle Paella - pan roasted gulf shrimp, red snapper, steamed mussels and cockle clams tossed with saffron rice pilaf, served with Louisiana lump crabmeat, roasted sweet peppers and arugula salad

I can only speak to what I ate, which was the foie gras creme brulee and the paella. The creme brulle was not what I expected; I thought Wolfe would essentially make a custard out of foie gras, but what he did was a creme brulee with bits of foie gras inside. It may not sound that appetizing, but it was excellent. The accompaniments were also very good; the pine nut syrup was of a honey-like consistency, and when I combined it with some of the strawberry jam, I got a Proustian hit of peanut butter and jelly. All in all the appetizer was very nice.

My friend asked for a salad in place of the listed appetizers, which the kitchen accomodated nicely.

I was a little nervous about ordering the paella. I've had paellas before in which one of the elements didn't work out. This one hit on all cylinders. The rice was cooked properly - a little bite but tender - and all of the seafood was cooked perfectly. There was saffron in the broth, but not so much that it overwhelmed the seafood, and the peppers were actually noticeable. The arugula salad was a few pieces of baby arugula, and it was a nice bitter addition to the dish, though I could have used a bit more.

There were two wines paired with the meal: a 2005 Housley's "Century Oak" Chardonnay out of Lodi, and a 2004 Andezon Grenache blend from Cote-de-Rhone. They were served as a demi-pitcher (effectively 2.5 glasses) at $15. I tried both, and they were very good. I'm not sure how much Patrick has to do with the wine at Peristyle but it's one of his real strengths, and hopefully he'll have as much leeway as he did at the Bistro.

Peristyle is one of those restaurants that I don't get to very often because I tend to eat out at lunch, but I'll be back in the not too distant future, and I hope you'll check it out too.